This Time Around
by Idrelle Miocovani
Summary: When an old enemy reappears, Jaina Solo and Kyp Durron embark on a dangerous quest through time to save Anakin Skywalker from the dark side. The deepest secrets of the Force slowly unravel as their mission is plagued with evils no one could have foreseen.
1. Mustafar

**A/N:** If you think you've seen this fic before, your eyes aren't kidding you and your brain isn't playing tricks. I started writing _This Time Around_ four years ago. I was fourteen and didn't really know what I was doing. I had an idea, but didn't bother to plan it out fully. It got started on an interesting foot, sailed along for a few chapters and then faded out. I wanted to keep writing, but I didn't have the energy. That was about two years ago. Since then, I've revised my original ideas, planned out the fic in full and started again, keeping much of the original work with a few revisions here and there. This is the second time I've re-posted TTA here; the first time was to introduce the re-worked version. A few months ago, I got upset with the system and deleted it. Whoops. Anyways, it's back now and it's staying this time.

Just a quick note: I won't be doing author replies at the end of each chapter. I find it disrupts the reading; if you guys ever get any really pressing questions, PM me and I'll get back to you. :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Star Wars_. At all. This is written for fun. Also, some parts of this fanfic heavily rely on the dialogue of certain scenes from Matthew Stover's novelization of _Revenge of the Sith._

This is an Alternate Universe story. For the record, it starts at **two years post-NJO.** Therefore, the events of _Dark Nest_ and _Legacy of the Force_ (including Jacen's transformation into the Sith Lord Darth Caedus) **will have no impact whatsoever on this storyline. **

Reviews and comments are much appreciated. Feedback is very important for an author -- I would love to hear from you!

And now, without further ado...

* * *

_In a long-forgotten glade, a single flower blooms. From afar, it looks to be a small, delicate thing, its petals easily crushed by a mislaid footstep. Yet, it is far from unprotected. Guarded by a sea of thorns, it grows steadily upwards, searching for the sunlight that will sustain its deep red beauty. But the forest around it is so dense, so thick that it will never feel its soft, healing power._

_Worlds away, a Star Dragon sleeps, his deep red scales shimmering in the moonlight. The Galaxy has been brutally shaken by a power far beyond the understanding of any sentient being. Sacred knowledge has been desecrated. The Duinuogwuin waits in eternal slumber for the universe to heal itself._

_Another place. Another time._

_A woman waits._

_She had never known that it would come to this. She would never have guessed that her life would have taken this course. After all, who would have believed that the concept of time travel was a reality? She certainly had not, until it had been forced upon her._

_She had never chosen to travel through time. That was the truth of it. She had been ordered, and she had obeyed. For the good of the Galaxy, she had obeyed. Her love for her duty, her love for the Force and her love for her family had inspired her to take her chosen course. At the time, it had seemed as though she had made a conscious decision._

_Upon reflection, she realizes she never had any choice to begin with. Every action she took, every decision she made had been contrived, and she never knew it._

_Until now._

_She stands alone, facing the dark abyss before her. She cannot change the past. Time may be altered, events erased, but there must always be an eliminator. She had been an eliminator once. And she had paid the price._

_As they all had. Every last one of them, from her friends and comrades, to their enemies and rivals._

_Where did they go from here?_

_A long, long time ago._

_A man waits, but there is nothing to wait for. He knows this, but still he cannot stop waiting. For every decision made in life, there is a consequence. He has paid dearly for his._

_Had it been a mistake, his journey? He had gained so much, but he had lost more than he could ever possibly imagine._

_If anything, one lesson had been taught. One rule had been made._

_Never play with the power of time._

_The dragon slumbers, undisturbed. The flower searches for the sunlight, but the shadows cast by the trees are too strong. And so, the flower wilts. The dragon waits._

_Such is the passage of time._

* * *

**THIS TIME AROUND**

* * *

**CHAPTER I**

**Mustafar**

Jaina Solo's X-Wing rocked viciously as it exited hyperspace. She glanced around the cockpit's window, and saw her fellow ships follow. Nearby, the _Millennium Falcon_ circled. Jaina gritted her teeth. Never before had she had a mission like this. Someone with a strong Force-signature inhabited the planet below and she had a strong sense of apprehension about the place. There was someone down there that should probably be left alone, but they – being typical Jedi – were going to confront it anyway.

It had been two years since the end of the Yuuzhan Vong war. For two years there had been relative peace in the Galaxy; _relative_ peace because more often than not it was marred by warring factions disputing over what remained on planets destroyed or maimed by the Vong invasion. Up until now, Jaina's missions had been concentrating on sorting out various incidents and stopping various greedy warlords from decimating entire regions.

Now, something of interest had arrived; it was new and different. She had joined the mission to confront the person partially out of curiosity and partially out of disgust and fear. Already several of her uncle's students had been sent to fiery Mustafar and none of them had returned from their assignments. No one knew what happened to them as they had disappeared without a trace.

Uncle Luke wasn't fond of mysterious disappearances. He was determined to find out what was happening on the small, volcano-covered planet. Unfortunately, there hadn't been many Jedi available for the task force as many were already on assignments. Jaina and her brother had volunteered at once and their parents had joined them as well. Before the Skywalker-Solo family had left, they had also received two more volunteers – Kyp Durron and Corran Horn, who both obviously missed the "good old days" before the Vong war that had been filled with missions like this one.

Jaina couldn't help but feel slightly edgy about the mission; there was a sense at the back of her mind that was flashing 'alert'. She decided that it had good reason – Jedi, especially experienced ones, generally did not disappear off the face of any planet.

Perfectly in time with her fellows, Jaina steered her craft towards Mustafar's smoky atmosphere. All the while, the presence was throbbing through the Force like a rescue signal. It wouldn't be hard to find this person.

Jaina frowned when she saw the surface of the planet. Bubbling lava flowed down the sides of the volcanoes, consuming everything in its path. How anyone could live here, she didn't know. Finding somewhere safe to land would be nearly impossible.

She reached out with the Force and connected with her twin. Though Jacen wasn't fond of the idea of this particular mission, he had agreed to go with her merely because he – like Jaina – was curious to see who this person was. His reassurance flowed through the Force and embraced her, making her feel more confident as they swooped towards the planet.

"Everyone, I think I've found a landing platform!" Kyp Durron's voice crackled through the intercom.

Jaina veered to the left, swinging by a volcano that chose to erupt as soon as she had passed it, nearly spraying her X-Wing with flying fragments of lava and rock. She leaned forwards and saw the metal platform sitting on a rocky island that hadn't yet been swallowed by molten lava. A large, sturdily built metal fortress towered over the island. She frowned as she swooped towards the cracked platform.

"Durron, that thing is _tiny_, how are we going to get six X-Wings plus the _Falcon_ on a piece of junk like that?" she demanded.

"She has a point, Kyp," Jacen commented.

"There might be another platform around the other side of the fortress," Leia Organa Solo suggested through the comm. "We can check for you."

The _Falcon_ swerved around the island and out of sight.

"I'm going to follow," Corran Horn's voice said as Jaina flew slowly towards the platform. "There definitely isn't enough room for all of us here."

"Mara and I'll come with you," Luke's voice said. "Jacen and Kyp, stay with Jaina." With that, his, Corran and Mara's X-Wings whooshed past the landing platform, following the _Millennium Falcon_ around to the other side of the giant fortress.

Jaina settled her X-Wing on the landing platform and jumped out as her brother and Kyp landed next to her, squishing their X-Wings together. Kyp removed his helmet and looked around, his eyes narrowing as he quickly examined the place.

"This is one hell of a weird place to live," he muttered.

"At least the variety of choices of where to look for the guy is fairly small," Jacen said grimly, nodding towards the massive fortress looming above them.

Jaina felt a shiver go down her spine as she stared up at it. The Force-signature seemed to be shrouding the entire building, pulsing through the Force like a heartbeat.

"Well, we might as well go check it out," she said, tossing her helmet back into her X-Wing and taking off at a brisk pace. Jacen and Kyp followed her up the path that led to the fortress. They hadn't gone too far when Jaina's comm buzzed.

"Yes?"

"We've found a spot round the other side of the island." It was her father. "We'll be there soon." Han's voice was short and clipped, as if something was interfering with the connection.

"All right," Jaina said. "We're going to go on ahead and see what we can find."

"No, Jaina," Han replied firmly, "I'd prefer that you three wait for the rest of us. We need to stick together on this one."

Jaina rolled her eyes and glanced at her brother and Kyp. "I hate it when he does that," she muttered.

Jacen chuckled at her remark. "Don't be so sour – we'll get there. Anyways, we didn't have to wait long," he added, pointing up the path. Luke, Mara, and Corran, followed by Han and Leia, were walking briskly towards them.

As Jaina watched them approach, she pursed her lips. She wasn't sure why her mother had wanted to come on this mission. After all, she wasn't a true Jedi. Maybe it had been out of pure curiosity, or her concern for her children. Whatever it was, Leia was here with them and wherever Leia was, Han would be too.

"The droids are all back with the ships," Corran informed them as they arrived. "Have you found a way into the place yet?"

Jaina shook her head. "We only just got here. I'm guessing we'd just follow the path – there should be a door somewhere near by."

As she spoke, she noticed that Luke was frowning as he stared up at the giant fortress.

"Now that we're here," he said slowly, "that Force-signature seems—"

"A little familiar," Mara finished for him. There was a perplexed look on her face. "I'm sure that I've felt this person's presence before, but I can't quite put a finger on it." She exhaled deeply and rolled her eyes. "Or maybe I'm just going crazy. Let's go."

Mara led the way up towards the fortress and along a long balcony that bordered the river of lava that bubbled beneath them. Ash swirled thickly in the air, making it difficult to breath. The heat was almost unbearable.

It didn't take them long to find a door. When Mara pushed against it, they found that it was locked, but she opened it easily using the Force. The door retracted, forming an archway that revealed a long, dark corridor.

Han lifted his blaster out of its holster. "I have a bad feeling about this," he muttered darkly.

Six lightsabers ignited, sending a wave of multi-coloured light down the hall.

"All the light you'll ever need," Leia murmured, raising her own lightsaber and activating it, adding a ruby glow to the mix.

"I guess Jedi come prepared for anything," Han commented, grinning.

They moved down the hall, the Force guiding the Jedi, the Jedi guiding Han. The Force-signature was pulsing, growing stronger as they walked hurriedly down the twisting corridors. Kyp, who was in the lead, halted at one point and turned abruptly down a new corridor, which was as dark as the first. Light danced along the walls from his lightsaber, revealing a door. Kyp approached it and paused.

"He's in there," he said quietly.

"Yes," Luke murmured. "I sense him."

_As do we all,_ Jaina thought. A familiar sense of impatience rushed through her. "Well, what are we waiting for?" she demanded. She reached forwards and palmed the button on the wall. The door slid open. The group filed in slowly, looking around cautiously for any sign of movement.

There was none, and as far as they could tell, there was no one in the room apart from themselves.

The room was damaged and in complete disrepair. A table was split in half and there were scorched markings on the walls. Jaina deactivated her lightsaber and ran down the steps from the door. She kneeled to have a closer look at the table.

"This must be old," she said. "I don't recognize the build."

Leia glanced at her daughter and approached the table, examining it. "It must be pre-Empire style."

"Pre-Empire?" Jaina repeated, surprised. "But that's ancient! How could something like that last this long on a planet that's made out of lava?"

Luke was examining the marks on the walls. "These have to have been made by a lightsaber," he murmured. "I wonder who did this."

"I know who did," a cold voice said.

The door snapped closed.

Luke spun around as Jaina and their companions looked up at the person standing by the exit. He was wearing a long black robe, his head covered by its hood. In his hand, he gripped a lightsaber.


	2. Darth Sidious

**CHAPTER II **

**Darth Sidious**

Mara stepped back and gripped Luke's wrist. Her face was contorted with disgust.

"I know your voice," Mara hissed, her eyes flashing. "It's changed a little, but it's the same voice that invaded my mind and haunted my dreams for years after the destruction of the Death Star. Emperor Palpatine."

Jaina opened her mouth in shock. It couldn't be… it was impossible! But Mara couldn't possibly be mistaken; she had known Palpatine for years, far too many years to be able to mistake someone else for him.

But how could he be here? He had died, everyone knew that. Uncle Luke had witnessed Darth Vader throwing the Emperor down the elevator shaft on the second Death Star. Jaina glanced wildly around at her companions, searching for an answer from them.

The rest of the team seemed to be in shock. Kyp was looking from Mara to the cloaked man and back again, stunned. Jacen was staring incredulously at him. Han had blinked in surprise at the name, but kept his blaster steady. Leia glared coldly at the man.

"A clone, perhaps?" she murmured.

Luke glanced at her. "Maybe. It _is_ possible."

"No," Mara muttered. Her eyes had hardened and her face was flushed with anger. "There would be the slightest of differences between a clone and the real man, but still I would know. This _has _to be him. I _know_ this is him."

Jaina bit her lip, horror rushing through her. But… even if what Mara said was true, it was impossible for Palpatine – _Emperor_ Palpatine – to be here. No matter how convinced Mara was, there had to be some kind of trick. She stood up from her spot by the table and took a step towards Palpatine, gripping her lightsaber tightly in one hand.

"You can't be Palpatine," she growled, her eyes burning. "He's dead, he died on the Death Star."

The cloaked man laughed. "You silly girl," he growled. "I am indestructible. I can never die."

"How did you survive?" Mara snarled. "Vader killed you. I felt your presence die."

Palpatine laughed icily. "What you felt, Mara Jade, was me merely _slipping_ into time. You see, unlike anyone else, I know how to manipulate time."

"And you expect us to _believe _you?" Leia interrupted coldly. "You've cloned yourself before – how do we know that this is not another trick?"

Palpatine laughed softly. "Always so quick to dismiss what you think is impossible," he hissed.

"Leia," Luke murmured quietly, "Mara's right. Something tells me that this is not a clone. Remember that I met the Emperor…" His voice trailed away and he fixed Palpatine with a hard stare. "So when my father threw you down the shaft, you merely slipped into either the past or the future and escaped death?" Luke asked, raising his voice.

"Exactly, young Skywalker," Palpatine hissed.

"But your own Force-lightning should have killed you," Mara interjected as Luke shot a deadly glare at his old arch-nemesis.

Palpatine laughed – a hard, cruel laugh. "Hardly. It killed your… _husband's_ father."

Mara froze. "How did you know?" she gasped.

"I know everything, Jade," Palpatine told her in a low hiss. "Past, present and future."

There was a long silence.

"You're insane," Jaina muttered, her eyes flashing. "Sithspit, you're insane! Time travel, indeed. It doesn't exist, no one can manipulate the Force that way, _no one._ You're just some… some bloody stupid idiot who's gone and puffed him up so much that he thinks he's Palpatine!"

The Sith Lord hissed and raised a hand. "You think you're smart, Jaina Solo," he murmured, "but, of course, once again your little mind has manipulated the facts into lies."

Jaina glared, her hands clenched into fists.

Blue waves of Force-lightning shot out from Palpatine's hand, streaking towards her.

"JAINA!" Jacen yelled.

But Luke was already there, his lightsaber activated, shoving the glowing emerald blade between his niece and the deadly currents of electricity. The lightsaber caught the blue waves and sent them flying back to where they originated.

Before they could hit Palpatine, the Sith Lord cancelled the lightning, snarling viciously.

"You've tried it before on me," Luke said, "and it's not going to work on anyone else."

"Is that so?" Palpatine said quietly. "Then you will meet your destiny and die as the Sith have their eternal revenge!"

His lightsaber ignited, the red blade elongating from the handle. In response, seven sabers were raised defiantly, and Han's blaster.

"You can't beat me, Jedi," Palpatine hissed. "Prepare to meet your doom." He raised his hand again, but this time no Force-lightning flew from his fingertips.

Jaina hesitated for a split-second, confused. Then she felt the air ripple around her and a wind tore at her hair. A Force-wave slammed into them, blasting Jaina and the rest of the strike team backwards across the room, slamming into the walls.

Winded and gasping for breath, Jaina was the first to rise, but as soon as she got to her feet, she felt herself being slammed backwards again. Her head hit the wall with such force that everything went momentarily black, the world spinning around her.

She felt someone pulling her upright. She blinked and Kyp's face swam into focus. Before she could say anything, her eyes widened in horror as she caught sight of Corran being slammed against the wall and falling, unconscious, to the floor, his scalp bleeding. Beside him, the others were struggling to rise. Palpatine's horrible laughter cackled through the room as he watched.

"How…?" Jaina's voice choked, hardly more than a squeak.

"Come on, Goddess," Kyp murmured quietly. "We have that thing to deal with. Be strong, Jaina. If you can fight the Yuuzhan Vong, you can fight him."

She nodded weakly and stepped forwards with her deactivated lightsaber in one hand and fire in her eyes as her companions rushed passed her.

Before she could do anything, a blaster shot rang out.

Jaina and Kyp watched in horror as Palpatine switched his cackling laughter for a hissing snarl and deflected the blaster bolt. Jaina ducked as it flew over her head and out a window.

"Dad, don't do anything!" Jaina ordered. She flicked her lightsaber back on and rushed forwards to confront Palpatine, her very being rippling with hate.

"Jaina!" Leia cried, starting forwards, but Han caught her arm.

"Wait, Princess," he said in a low voice. "She's up to something."

Jaina raised her lightsaber, its blade casting a blue-violet glow on her face, and ignored her parents, concentrating solely on Palpatine. She glared at him, her eyes narrowing, her mind planning every possible step. She would allow no surprises.

"Are you a coward, your Highness?" she asked in a loud voice.

Palpatine laughed. "I am not a coward, Jaina Solo."

"Then why don't you fight us properly?" she demanded, her voice as hard as the durasteel floor they were standing on. "You're cheating by striking out with Force-waves. We're defenceless against them."

"Defenceless, young Solo?" Palpatine sneered. "Or do you merely not know how to counter them?"

Jaina breathed heavily, gripping her lightsaber tightly, but she didn't retort.

"You have much anger in you, Jaina Solo," Palpatine continued. "Enough to fulfill the destiny of your family—"

"Still trying to play that old trick?" a cold voice snapped.

Jaina felt Kyp come and stand beside her. He ignited his lightsaber as he glared at Palpatine. "Jaina's been to the Dark side and back again," he said coldly. "She won't fall prey to your scheming tricks."

Jaina looked at him gratefully before turning back to their sneering enemy. "I'll never turn again, Palpatine," she said firmly, "and no force in the galaxy can make me – especially not _you._ You couldn't even turn my uncle to the Dark side." She hesitated, catching her breath before her hard words escalated out of control. "Sithspit, you couldn't even keep my _grandfather_ turned to the Dark side! You will never turn me, or my brother or any other member of my family or any of my friends. Now, will it be coward or true Sith? Fight us the way we would fight you and maybe you'll die a real Sith, not the pathetic remains of what was once the most powerful threat to the galaxy!"

Palpatine stared at her for a moment before slipping into his cackling laugh. "Very well, Jaina Solo," he said, raising his own lightsaber and igniting it, "have it your own way."

Jaina raised her lightsaber. Beside her, Kyp followed suit, as did Jacen, Luke and Mara. Leia hesitated before igniting hers as well.

Palpatine was still laughing.

"Since when is a Sith Lord a giggling Ewok?" Kyp muttered darkly.

"Now where have I seen this before?" Palpatine asked himself, completely oblivious to Kyp's sadistic question.

"The Force knows where," Mara snapped.

"I have been meaning to ask you this for some time, Mara," Palpatine said icily, "and I suppose I should say it before you die. I remember that my last order to you was to kill Skywalker. What did he say to evade certain death by your hand and eventually get you to marry him?"

Mara's eyes narrowed dangerously. "It doesn't matter what he said," she hissed.

The words were barely out of her mouth when the Sith Lord leapt at them. His lightsaber was expertly wielded – Mara jumped clear before it could hurt her and the blade came crashing down against Jaina's saber instead.

Jacen rushed at him, but Palpatine motioned with a hand and used the Force to thrust the young Jedi back. Jacen hit the cleaved table in the centre of the room and grunted in pain.

Jaina flinched at the sound, but as she knew her brother wasn't injured enough that he was in any possible danger, she didn't turn to his aid. Keeping Mara's flickering lightsaber clearly in sight, she predicted the next moves and dove forwards to lash at Palpatine's head as Mara thrust at his side.

Teamwork. The word rippled through Jaina's mind. It was all they needed to defeat this Sith Lord. He might be the mightiest Force-sensitive in the Galaxy, but he had no allies. That weakness alone could be his downfall. If they worked together, they could kill him.

If only the others would realize that weakness too and attack together!

Behind them, Han took aim with his blaster and fired.

The bolt didn't stand a chance of piercing the net of lightsabers. It hit one of the blades and bounced away, harmlessly plunging into the wall. Palpatine, who was higher up on the stairs than either Mara or Jaina, took notice of Han's attempt. He blocked a double blow and raised his hand. Han's blaster jerked out of his hands and flew across the room and out the window, tumbling towards the fiery river below.

Jaina slashed down at Palpatine's unprotected hand, but it was quickly withdrawn. Through a spray of sparks, she saw her father's surprised face looking down at her.

"Han!" Luke yelled. "Get out of the way!"

Han dove aside as Luke flipped through the air and joined the fray. The expression on his face clearly said that he couldn't believe what was happening – and he had good reason. Even with all of their experiences, three well-trained Jedi couldn't subdue a Sith Lord.

Jacen had risen from the spot where he had collided with the table and was beginning to move forwards, but Kyp reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Wait," he murmured. "There's too many; we can't all attack him at once."

"But if we don't attack now, we might never get another chance!" Jacen exclaimed.

"Just wait," Kyp said sternly, his eyes flickering back to the heart of the fight.

Luke blocked a particularly hard blow from Palpatine's lightsaber and blinked as sparks showered them. Palpatine used the Force to shove him away, but Luke fought back and his green saber slashed down once more.

"You've got the skill of your father," Palpatine snarled as he parried the blow.

"Do you mean my father or Darth Vader?" Luke snapped and pushed the Sith Lord away. Palpatine tottered on the edge of the stairs but regained his balance just as Mara and Jaina attacked from opposite sides.

Jaina caught Mara's eye. She smiled slightly at her aunt and whispered, "Teamwork."

Mara nodded and shifted her position, striking quickly, only to be blocked.

Suddenly, Jaina, Luke and Mara were hit with a strong blast of a Force-wave and all three were sent flying backwards. Jaina crashed to the floor by Kyp's feet, grunting in pain. Winded, she forced herself to sit up and to her dismay, she saw that all of her friends and family were stunned: she, Mara and Luke were all lying on the floor, Corran was still unconscious, Kyp and Jacen were watching, almost ready to spring forwards, and Han was gripping on to Leia, who stood, petrified, by the wall.

As Jaina slowly stood up and straightened, she saw Palpatine standing at the top of the stairs. With his black cloak concealing himself completely, he looked almost like a dark god coming to bring death and destruction.

And he was almost just that, Jaina reminded herself as she watched him pace back and forth in front of the door, glaring at this defiant group of Jedi.

Jaina sensed movement from behind her – out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother moving, finally coming out of her state of petrified shock. Leia came to stand beside her daughter, her ruby red lightsaber snapping on with a hiss.

"Emperor Palpatine," Leia addressed their enemy calmly, "you were once a diplomat, a Senator and the Chancellor of the Old Republic. You understand diplomacy better than the majority of us here. Would you disgrace the memory of the Repub—"

"The Republic died because of me, Senator Organa-Solo," Palpatine hissed. "It was _I_ who turned it into the Galactic Empire!"

"Indeed," Leia replied coolly. "However, as I said before, though you do not wish to admit it, you were a politician, correct? Therefore you understand that this not have to end in battle." She paused, her eyes flickering towards the dark Sith Lord. "We could discuss this. The Jedi and the Sith could live in harmony."

"Are you suggesting a… _compromise,_ Senator?"

Leia did not immediately respond. "Yes, your Highness," she replied after a moment.

Palpatine chuckled softly. "How like your mother you are, Princess Leia. She too was a politician, but, as you must know, politicians can twist words to conceal their true meanings. You offered a compromise that would allow the Jedi and the Sith to live in harmony. I agree to that compromise."

Leia shifted slightly and raised her chin.

"Therefore," Palpatine continued, "the Jedi and the Sith will live in harmony. The Sith will have the Galaxy… and the Jedi shall rest in peace."

Jaina flung herself in front of her mother, her saber blade thrust outwards, and she blocked the blow Palpatine had aimed at Leia. She lashed out with a foot, sending the Sith Lord flying backwards, and she jumped after him, lowering her saber at his neck.

"You won't take my mother from me," Jaina growled, preparing to slash her saber down.

Palpatine slide backwards and, in a lightning move, flipped back up to the top of the stairs as Jaina's lightsaber slid into the metal floor where her enemy had been moments before. She pulled it out easily and clenched her fingers around its hilt as she ran towards her opponent. She nodded at Mara, who quickly slashed at Palpatine as Luke attacked from the other side. Behind them, Kyp, Jacen and Leia followed.

On the floor, Corran was coming to. Through the flurry of humming blades, Jaina saw him raise his head and stare in confusion and awe at the titanic duel.

Suddenly, Mara screamed as Palpatine's lightsaber scraped the side of her shoulder. She stumbled backwards, her defences lowered.

Jacen leapt forwards to take her place. He plunged into the attack, anticipating every move and easily blocking his enemy's blows.

Palpatine snarled viciously and used another Force-wave to throw his opponents aside as if they weighed no more than clouds. Han caught Leia as she flew by him and Luke, Jaina, Jacen and Kyp crashed into the walls.

Jacen was the first one up, recovering quickly. He flipped over Palpatine and landed behind him. He thrust at Palpatine as Mara crept up behind the Sith Lord. With a blurred movement, Palpatine managed to parry both blows aimed at him.

As she watched the battle, feeling helpless, a sense in the back of Jaina's mind was told her that something was suddenly going to go wrong. The entire group was weakening, but Palpatine was growing stronger. Neither side was gaining any ground, and whoever gave out first would die. Through the Force, Jaina could sense her aunt and brother becoming exhausted. At any moment, either of them could be impaled by their enemy's lightsaber. She rushed forwards, with Kyp charging after her.

Jaina saw Jacen thrust at Palpatine, but his blow was blocked by the blood-red saber. With surprising force, Palpatine kicked out at Mara, catching her lower legs. She grunted, lost her balance, and tumbled backwards down the steps. Palpatine laughed manically and leapt after her. Jaina turned, dismayed, and felt her companions moving with her as they rushed to help their fallen friend.

"Stop!" the Sith Lord called suddenly. "Don't move, any of you. If you do, she dies."

Luke skidded to a halt. Despite accumulative sweat from the brutal battle, his face was white with fear.

"It's not like you're _not_ going to kill me anyways," Mara grunted.

Palpatine hissed, his eyes quickly shifting between his opponents, watching for any signs of movement.

The seconds fell away and time itself seemed to disappear. Jaina felt someone holding onto her firmly, preventing her from moving. As she struggled, she realize that it was Kyp who was preventing her from rushing at Palpatine and trying to kill him with her bare hands. As she tried to free herself from her friend's grasp, Jaina became aware that everyone was watching each other, but hardly anyone dared to move. It was almost as if every one of them was hesitant to force the outcome of the battle. Jaina glanced across the room. Leia was in Han's protective embrace by the windows. Corran was fully conscious now, but was still lying on the floor. Luke was several feet away from the Sith Lord, watching in horror. Jacen was on the opposite side of Palpatine, a strange look in his eyes.

Struggling to free herself from Kyp, Jaina watched her brother as his eyes flickered between Mara, Palpatine and the tip of the red lightsaber that was pointing directly at their aunt's throat.

The Force was thick with mixed emotions – fear and hate were the most prominent and were evident on the expressions of everyone around Jaina. Time was nothing. It was replaced by the sound of breathing, of humming lightsabers, of the lava bubbling far below them.

Jaina watched Jacen closely. She was breathing heavily and her attempts to free herself fell short. Jacen's eyes were unfocused. He seemed to be within himself – counting, calculating, searching the Force. For a split second, he looked up, locked eyes with her and nodded.

Jaina's mouth dropped open. She wanted to shriek a warning, tell him that something horrible was going to happen, but the words stuck in her throat and no sound came out.

Then Jacen snapped and everything began to move.

As Palpatine's lightsaber descended on Mara, Jacen leapt forwards, preparing to batter the saber away.

It never happened. He had somehow miscalculated. As Jacen landed by Mara, his saber swung towards Palpatine's but the force of his impact on the narrow step caused him to lose his balance. While trying to steady himself, Palpatine deactivated his lightsaber and Jacen fell forwards. With nothing but air for his lightsaber to counter, Jacen tumbled towards the floor. Then the Sith's blade ignited again and ran Jacen through.

"NO!"

Jaina's anguished shriek erupted from her lips as she saw the blood-red saber burst out from her brother's back. Her heart seemed to stop as she felt Jacen's life-Force flicker, the twin bond wavering, and then fade away as he fell limply to the floor. The sound of her voice was still echoing around the room as she ripped herself from Kyp's grasp and charged at Palpatine, her mind completely blank except for her bond with Jacen, which was becoming increasingly distant. Then it was gone.

Jaina yelled again, her twin's name bursting from her as she ran towards Palpatine. In a flurry of blurred thrusts of her lightsaber, the battle began again.

For Jaina, there was nothing – no family, no friends, just her and an enemy that had to be killed at all costs. An enemy that had caused something so terrible that as she fought, she couldn't even think of what it was. During that cold, hard moment where there was nothing but the sound of lightsabers crashing against each other, time did not exist. It was just her, her enemy, their weapons and their battle.

"Jaina!" Luke's voice yelled. It seemed so distant. Jaina barely heard it, she was so absorbed in anger and fear and shock that she couldn't think. She was fighting Palpatine so hard that neither of them would be able to kill the other, and none of the team, not even Luke himself, would be able to join the fight without being slashed by a lightsaber.

Suddenly, a purple blade shot past the corner of her eye. Jaina turned her head and saw Corran standing some feet behind her, attacking swiftly with his elongated blade. He stabbed at Palpatine's neck and grazed the skin. The Sith Lord snarled in surprise and stepped back. His figure shimmered for a moment and disappeared.

Corran dropped his lightsaber, stunned. It deactivated itself and rolled away.

"What happened?" he shouted, turning around, searching the room. "Where did he go?"

Mara slowly got to her feet and picked up his lightsaber. "I think he jumped into time," she said, her voice hollow, "or somehow managed to teleport himself. We have no idea how much he knows about the Force. He can do anything."

Jaina barely heard or understood what her aunt was saying. With the disappearance of their enemy, all the anger had flooded out of her. There was nothing else left but a numb pain as disbelief flowed through her. She slowly descended the steps and knelt beside Jacen's limp body that Mara was cradling gently. Luke was beside her, his head bowed.

"I can't believe it," Corran murmured.

Jaina stared at Jacen's lifeless form. She reached out and closed her hand around his wrist, searching for a pulse. There was a dim flicker of hope in her mind that said that he might still be alive, even though the reality of the situation was screaming at her. Panic was twisting in her stomach as she searched frantically for the pulse of life.

"Jaina…"

"No," her voice said, cracking slightly. "No, he's not dead. He can't be dead. I've got… I've got to find a pulse…" There was a lump in her throat that she couldn't swallow. Her eyes were wet and stinging with tears that refused to fall.

"Jaina…"

"NO!" she shouted blindly. "He's not dead! He can't be…" She leaned forwards, touching the side of her brother's neck, fruitlessly trying to sense life.

She vaguely felt someone lifting her very weak arm away from Jacen's body. She tried her best to push that person away, but he was too strong. Through wet tears, she saw that it was Kyp who was taking her away.

"_No,"_ she moaned. "No, I can't leave him… I can't..."

"I've got you, Goddess," he murmured, holding her close. Giving up as reality crashed around her, Jaina sobbed uncontrollably into his shirt.

There was silence all around, except for the sounds of Jaina's crying and Leia's wailing as she knelt beside the dead body of her son.

"We'd better find him soon," Han growled dangerously, breaking the silence. "I'm not going to have my family fall apart now. I want him dead."

"You want him dead?" Mara repeated. "I think we _all_ want him dead, Han! He could tear the galaxy apart --!"

"I don't care about the damn galaxy!" Han roared. "He killed my son!"

Leia sobbed harder, her breaths coming as gasps. Out of the corner of an eye soaked with tears, Jaina saw her father murmur comforting words to her mother and plant a kiss on her forehead.

"We should probably get out of here," Corran said quietly.

"Yes," Mara agreed, her voice distant. She sat down beside Luke and said no more.

A feeling of emptiness was beginning to shroud Jaina. There was only one time before this when she had felt as lost as now – when Anakin had died and Jacen had been lost, presumed dead. But now there was no chance of Jacen ever returning. He was dead, like Anakin, and she was alone. Forever.

A sudden hissing noise broke into her sense of vast numbness. Jaina turned her head and saw that Corran had activated his lightsaber and was plunging it through the door.

"Emperor's Black Bones, what _are_ you doing, Corran?" Mara demanded.

"Cutting a hole big enough for us to fit through," he answered, breathing heavily as he worked. "Palpatine must have permanently sealed the door or something. I couldn't get it open."

Jaina turned her head away and closed her eyes. She wished for nothing more than to lose this terrible life. She longed for her childhood, when her brothers had still been alive – before the darkness had fallen. She felt cursed – cursed to be the one left behind, cursed to be the only one still alive.

"What if it had been your son?" Han asked quietly.

"What?" Mara answered.

"What if it had been _your_ son, Mara?" Han repeated. "What if Ben was killed by Palpatine? How would you feel?"

"I…"

"Don't you have any emotions, Mara?" Han demanded, his voice rising. "Or have they all been leached out by the Empire?"

Mara jumped to her feet, her face flushing hotly. "Han," she retorted, "what—"

"He was your nephew! He died trying to _save your life!"_

"Don't ever make the mistake of thinking that I'm not upset Han, because I am! Just as much as you are!" Mara's voice cracked as she yelled. Jaina glanced over at her aunt and father – they were glaring darkly at each other.

"Please!" Leia's quiet voice said. "Please, Han, Mara… let's just… there's no point on getting angry. No need for arguments."

There was a loud bang as the drilled-out centre of the door feel to the floor.

"We have a way out," Corran announced, deactivating his lightsaber.

"Well, there's no point on hanging around here," Han said. Slowly, he bent over and picked up the limp body of his son.

Jaina watched as he passed by her. Swallowing hard, she moved out from Kyp's embrace and followed her family in a solemn progression through the darkened hallways. Luke lighted the way with the green glow of his lightsaber. No one spoke. Speech would interrupt the moment of silence that they were giving Jacen as a sign of respect.


	3. Professor Augustine

**CHAPTER III**

**Professor Augustine**

Suddenly, Luke stopped walking. "There's something up ahead," he said quietly.

Mara peered through the darkness. "Who's there?" she called.

Someone appeared out of the gloom. He was very tall and slender and wore a long, dark cloak. A hood covered his head, making it impossible to tell what his face looked like. He held his pale hands clasped in front of him.

"Who are you?" Mara asked sharply.

"I am the Professor," the man said slowly. His voice had a lilting quality to it, almost hypnotic in a way. "You may call me Augustine," he added.

"What do you want?" Mara asked suspiciously.

"Come with me," the Professor replied quietly. There was no threat in his voice.

"Why?" Mara demanded.

The Professor's hooded head swerved to look at her. "You and your companions have witnessed and survived something very important," he said, his voice hardly more than a whisper. "So important it is that the Galaxy could be destroyed. Now you must be the ones to fix it. Follow me. There is something I must tell you, but not here. The fate of the Galaxy may depend on it."

He turned and began to walk very slowly down the corridor.

Jaina stood still, like her companions. Very little of what had just been spoken to her registered in her mind – it was still filled with the sounds and images of Jacen falling, being struck by Palpatine's lightsaber, and crashing to the ground… dead.

"Come!" the Professor's voice rang out, a edge of annoyance in the single word.

"We should follow him," Luke's voice said.

Jaina raised her head and looked at him dully. _Why should I care what happens to the Galaxy?_ she thought. Her throat was burning; she trembled violently as she tried to suppress another round of sobs.

_Jacen…_

"Why?" Han asked gruffly.

"Some knowledge he has," Luke answered quietly. "I can feel it through the Force. This… Professor may be able to help us."

Her uncle's words drifted in and out. Jaina didn't care; they could decide what they wanted to do, there was nothing for her here…

"Even if he turns out to be an enemy," Luke's voice continued, "we still need to know. We need whatever it is he can offer. We _must_ stop Palpatine."

At the mention of the Sith Lord's name, Jaina's head jerked upwards. "Yes," she growled. "He killed Jacen."

Luke paused and looked straight at Jaina, meeting her eyes. Jaina sensed some form of worry in her uncle's face.

"Kyp," he said, "look after her."

The tall Professor was waiting for them at the end of the corridor. They followed him down multiple halls, moving deeper into the fortress.

The corridors were all the same – made of metal, shrouded in gloom. Jaina's mind was trying desperately to register something else besides the aching hole in her mind where the twin bond had been. She noticed, dully, that the Professor must be able to see in the dark as the green light from Luke's lightsaber didn't extend past him. However, this moment of curiosity was short lived. The world was empty without her brother in it – there was nothing more to it than that.

The halls twisted and turned. They came to stairs upon stairs, always descending. Time crept by slowly, but it seemed to go on forever. At last, the Professor opened a small door and it retracted into the ceiling to reveal a large, cavern-like chamber. There were no windows and it was dimly lit. In the centre stood a dais-like platform with a large, metal pillar rising from it, reaching towards the ceiling. Beside it was a black, throne-like chair, elegantly designed.

They filed into the room silently. Jaina wandered away from the others, sitting down next to the dais. She shivered, even though she wasn't cold – for some strange reason, her skin was tingling. She glanced up at the pillar. There were strange markings engraved in its dulled surface. For a split second, her vision wobbled and a dark, swirling mass appeared in the place of the gigantic pillar. She blinked and it went back to normal.

"Don't go near there!" a harsh voice rang through the room.

Jaina looked over her shoulder; the Professor was pointing an accusing finger in her direction. Confused, she stood up and stepped away from the dais.

"What is it?"

"You will know in due course," the Professor told her. He walked slowly towards the black throne and sat down.

Jaina looked towards where her parents were standing. Han was carefully placing the body of his son on the ground. Jacen's face had relaxed into a tranquil expression. Han knelt beside the body, his hand on his forehead. Leia stood beside him, her hands gripping Han's shoulders.

Jaina swallowed hard and sat back down. Both her parents looked older than they ever had before. The death of another family member was taking its toll. She reached up with a hand to wipe away tears that she thought were forming, only to find that her eyes were dry. The numbness that filled her would not let her cry anymore. She sat down on the floor and closed her eyes, brushing a lock of loose hair behind an ear.

"All right, what is this all about?!"

Jaina winced at the sound of her aunt's ferocious voice and opened her eyes. Mara was standing several feet away from the Professor's throne, her face and tone livid.

"You pull us down here under the pretence that something important just happened and that the Galaxy is in danger," she snapped. "But you haven't given us specific information. So talk!"

Professor Augustine raised his pale hands. "All in good time, Mara Jade."

There was a long pause.

"How do you know my name?" Mara asked.

The man chuckled softly. "Never mind how I know. What is important is what _you_ know, what _you_ have seen and how _you_ can fix it." He raised his head and, though she could not see his eyes, Jaina had the impression that he was surveying all of them.

"Fix what?" Kyp's voice growled.

Professor Augustine folded his hands on his lap. "Let me tell you a story, Master Durron," he said softly. "A long time ago, a man named Palpatine became the Senator of Naboo and, eventually, the Chancellor of the Old Republic. Sometime in his mysterious past that is known only to him, he became a Sith Lord's apprentice. He learned all he could from this Sith Lord and his power grew. Then he killed his Master. He hid the fact that he was a Sith Lord from all until the day that a young Jedi Knight by the name of Anakin Skywalker –"

"My father?" Luke interrupted, his voice – though quiet – betraying his surprise.

A small, soft laugh came from the hood that covered Augustine's face. "Ah, yes. Your father. He was a brilliantly talented Jedi. But he was deceived by a lie that Palpatine told him and he fell to the dark side. The Galaxy suffered greatly under the oppression of the new Empire that was formed by none other than Palpatine himself. Then the day came when you, Master Skywalker, defeated both Darth Vader and Palpatine."

Jaina frowned. Why was this man reciting history to them? She neither cared to hear it or know about it – all she wanted was a way to find her brother's killer and destroy him.

"Very pleasant story, Professor," she said sarcastically, "but what has this got to do with us?"

There was another laugh. Jaina wished fervently that she could see the Professor's face.

"It has everything to do with you, Jaina Solo," Augustine said. "Because Palpatine survived Darth Vader's attempt to kill him –"

"By jumping into time," Mara supplied. "He told us."

"And you have met him," Augustine continued as if Mara had not interrupted him. "He killed one of you – Jacen Solo, I believe?"

The aching wound in her mind where the twin bond had once been threatened to overtake Jaina once more with excruciating pain as her brother's name was mentioned. She glanced away from the group, trying to force herself to forget.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I don't understand where this is going," Corran said. His voice seemed to come from a long way off, even though Jaina knew he was standing just a few feet away from her.

There was a long pause before Augustine answered him.

"Palpatine survived by 'jumping into time,'" he said, his voice hardly more than a whisper. _"Time."_ He spoke the word almost reverently. "It is such a delicate and mysterious thing. But it possesses an inner strength that no one but those most attuned to the Force can understand. That strength is wild, uncontrollable. Wormholes through time do exist and can be opened, when desired, by using supreme knowledge of the Force. Once the Force and time recognize your Force-signature, you can go anywhere. At this point, to travel in space and time is the same thing. It is possible – but dangerous."

A feeling of irritability was rising rapidly inside Jaina. Here they were, calmly discussing the possibility of traveling through time with a complete stranger who had never even considered the fact that her brother…

"Don't be stupid," she snapped suddenly, "time travel doesn't exist. I don't care what Palpatine said. It's not true."

A soft chuckle issued from Augustine's hood. "How do you know that time travel doesn't exist, Jaina Solo?"

"It's impossible," she hissed through gritted teeth.

"And how do you know that something is impossible?" Augustine countered. "Did the human species not once think that travel through space was impossible?"

The retort that she had been preparing abruptly vanished – the Professor had just made a valid statement. Jaina hesitated, trying to think of a plausible answer.

"We've never had any records of time travel!" she said quickly.

"Ah," Augustine replied, "but records can't prove anything. Time travel is such a delicate thing. There are rules that one must follow."

"Like what?" Jaina snapped. "Besides," she added, trying to continue her argument, "we'd know if time had been changed, wouldn't we?"

Another laugh. Jaina gritted her teeth; the Professor was beginning to irritate her. It seemed to her that he was treating them like children, answering statements with counter-statements and questions with more questions. He was toying with them.

"You would never know if someone went back in time," Augustine said. "Anyone who goes back in time is manipulating the _entire_ Galaxy. A person could go back in time and interfere with a great event. By doing so, he or she would then change the course of his or her future… and everything would be different. The Galaxy is lucky that very few people have discovered time travel. It is a rare thing… a rare and terrible thing."

Jaina felt herself tense as she heard those words. She was barely aware that her hands were clenched so tightly that her fingernails were digging into the palms of her hands. If someone could change the course of his or her future by going back in time, then that meant…

"Do you mean that I could have been living a different life if someone hadn't gone back in time?" she demanded. "And I wouldn't even know?"

"Yes."

Jaina shivered, feeling both cold fear and hot anger at the same time. She glanced across the room at her companions; they had various looks of amazement on their faces. She caught Kyp's eye and was hardly surprised to see a smouldering, angry expression etched across his face. Just like herself, Kyp was indignant at how easily the lives of every single being in the Galaxy could be manipulated – _if_ what Augustine said was true. She tried to say something, but her throat seemed to be incapable of working properly.

"How can the entire Galaxy be changed in such a cruel way?" Leia demanded frigidly, speaking for the first time since they had entered the room. Jaina tried to ignore the fact that her mother's voice had trembled when she spoke.

"The person who traveled back in time could easily have the power of a God," Mara remarked grimly, folding her arms across her chest.

"The whole idea is about as plausible as a Colo claw fish living on Tatooine," Han said angrily. "There's no such thing as time travel. We're finished here."

"You may leave if you so desire, Han Solo," Professor Augustine said coolly, "but you will not be welcomed back to hear me finish and what I have to say may have great worth for you – if you value your life."

Han's nostrils flared. "Then tell us how time travel is possible," he retorted furiously. "Or even better – tell me how its _scientifically possible_."

A high, cold laugh emitted from Augustine's hood. His tall frame doubled slightly as he cackled loudly.

Jaina watched in amazement, feeling a shiver run down her spine. Though she felt that Augustine meant them no harm, that laugh was unnerving. It reminded her too much of Palpatine.

"Han Solo," Augustine said, "I believe you once called the Force a 'hokey religion', am I correct?" He paused, giving Han time to answer, but he did not. "You are a living, breathing irony," the Professor continued. "Once upon a time, you did not believe in the Force. Yet now you do, as you have been much – too much – living proof that the Force does exist. You cannot feel it, yet you would not deny that it exists. However, as soon as you meet something – shall I use the term 'implausible?' – you deny, fervently, that it is possible. Time travel is very much real, through the Force. A machine cannot transport you through time, but the Force can – in the same way that a machine cannot help you jump fifteen feet into the air or…" He hesitated for a brief moment, "…shoot lightning from your fingertips."

"Like Palpatine," Jaina growled.

"Indeed," Augustine replied.

"But," Jaina continued, "that still doesn't prove anything. I used the Force, but _I_ still don't believe that time travel exists. You haven't done anything to prove it."

Augustine inclined his head in her direction. "True – I dare not, lest I cause a disaster. But I notice that you don't believe what Palpatine told you. He disappeared right in front of your eyes, after all."

"That's because _he's a liar!"_ Jaina retorted furiously. "Once a liar, always a liar."

"That is true," Augustine said quietly.

"Professor Augustine!" Luke interrupted loudly. "I believe you invited us here to tell us something of importance. Jaina," he turned to her, "please stop arguing with the Professor. We cannot waste anymore time. If Palpatine is out there, we must stop him."

As Luke paused for breath, Jaina noticed that her uncle's face was drawn and weary, but she felt that it was from something else besides the battle that had taken place earlier. He looked like he was drained of all energy and he wasn't about to waste what he had left on waiting for hours to hear what they had come for.

"Luke Skywalker," Augustine said slowly, "what I have to say does influence Palpatine. In fact, it influences him greatly. Now that he is loose, there is only one way of stopping him. I am the only one in the entire Galaxy with the knowledge to help the Jedi Order stop Darth Sidious from destroying all they have worked for."

"What is it?" Luke asked, a sliver of impatience in his voice.

There was a long pause before Augustine spoke.

"It is your duty to stop Palpatine," he said, his voice louder and clearer than it had ever been throughout the entire conversation. "One of you must travel into time and fix the one momentous event that has shaped the world you know into what it is: the fall of Anakin Skywalker."

It was as if a little jolt of electricity had passed through her body; Jaina jumped in surprise at the mention of her grandfather's name. Several things clicked in her mind at once… fixing her grandfather's fall meant that he would never have gone to the dark side…

"What?" Luke's voice was little more than a hoarse whisper.

"Is that possible?" Leia asked.

"How can that be?" Mara exclaimed.

"Oh, really!" Han grumbled.

"How can we _save_ Anakin Skywalker?" Corran demanded. "It's ridiculous!"

"I don't see how that changes _anything,"_ Kyp added hotly.

Amidst the uproar from her family and friends that echoed around the large chamber, Jaina's mind was carefully putting all of what Professor Augustine had said together.

_He said that it was the momentous event that formed everything we know,_ she thought. _That means that Darth Vader must have had something to do with the actual formation of the Empire. If there's no Darth Vader, then who would Palpatine send to kill all the Jedi and destroy the Rebellion? _

_If_ time travel was genuinely possible and one of them was sent back in time to stop Anakin Skywalker from falling to the dark side, then that meant that the most powerful Jedi Knight would be able to help protect the Galaxy from its most evil nemesis. If that were true, then Anakin Skywalker would be able to stop Palpatine even before now…

"I don't see how Anakin Skywalker's turn to the dark side affects anything!" Kyp was saying loudly. "He did turn back to the light, didn't he? He killed Palpatine… but Palpatine escaped. I don't see how saving him will change anything."

Augustine stood up suddenly from his chair. "No! It changes _everything!"_ he roared, his voice filling the chamber.

Jaina winced from the noise and another chill that went down her spine.

"He's right, Kyp," she said quietly. "It does change everything." She glanced at her Luke. There was understanding in his face. Of course – he was the only person who could truly know what saving Anakin Skywalker meant. "Uncle Luke?"

"Yes, Jaina," he said, nodding. "If my father never went to the dark side, then the Galaxy would be a completely new world. The impact he had on the Old Republic… the impact Darth Vader had on the Empire…"

"You see, don't you," Augustine said, his voice growing rapidly more agitated. He moved slowly towards them as he continued speaking. "You _must_ change it. For the sake of the Galaxy, you must change it for there is another reason that you have not heard of yet. In this world, right here, right now, Anakin Skywalker is dead. He was the Chosen One, the only person in the entire _history _of the Galaxy who was able to bring balance to the Force by killing Palpatine and defeating the Sith. He failed – all because Palpatine did not die on the Death Star. Now there is no one – _absolutely no one_ – who can save the Galaxy from Darth Sidious' hands. He will destroy everything you know and love. If you want to save the Galaxy from certain oppression and death, then you _must_ go back and change Anakin before it is too late."

There was a long silence.

Jaina folded her hands, twisting and untwisting her fingers. _It's the only way,_ she thought. _Someone has to go back… it's the only way Palpatine will ever die. For all we know, he might even be able to escape old age. This will be the only way we will ever get justice for what he's done…_ A vivid image of Jacen's face appeared in her mind. Jaina's hands untwisted and curled into fists, slamming onto the floor she was sitting on. The resulting _thud_ sounded loudly throughout the room. Six faces glanced at her briefly before turning back to Augustine, who had returned to sit on his black throne.

"I'll go," Luke said softly.

"But Master Skywalker," Kyp began, "you—"

"This matter rests with me," Luke interrupted. "It was my father who turned to the dark side and it rests with me to put things right."

"You won't be alone, Luke," Leia said quietly, stepping up beside him. "He was my father, too. It is as much my responsibility as it is yours."

"Wait, wait, _wait,"_ Han said, holding up his hands. "If you think you're heading off through time without me, you're wrong."

Jaina smiled briefly – one could never separate her parents.

Mara's eyes were narrowed as she observed Luke with a calculating expression. "Don't think you're going anywhere without me, Skywalker."

It seemed that this was turning into a Skywalker-Solo family task.

"And no doubt you will require help on this mission," Corran added. "I'll go, too."

"The more the merrier," Han commented.

"In that case, I'll come as well," Kyp said.

"And I'm going," Jaina said finally, standing up. "I want to make sure justice is brought to Palpatine as fast as possible."

She watched, her stomach turning into a hard knot, as her parents exchanged looks.

"No," Leia said. "Absolutely not. It's too dangerous, even for you. I don't want to risk your life as well."

Jaina opened her mouth to retort, but her father interrupted her.

"Jaina," Han said quickly, "you have no idea what it'll be like. I was a kid during the fall of the Old Republic. I know how it was, you don't. It's too dangerous."

Jaina's eyes narrowed. "And I am perfectly capable of looking after _myself!"_ she answered hotly. "And _everyone_ here knows that! I'm not going to allow you two to forbid me to go on this mission; I have just as much right as you do!"

"You can't," Augustine's penetrating voice interrupted.

Jaina angrily turned to him in astonishment. "What do you mean, I _can't?"_ she demanded.

"I was not speaking to you, Jaina Solo." The cloaked man leaned back in his throne. "It is your parents, your uncle, your aunt and even your friend Corran who cannot go."

"What do you mean?" Luke asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Time travel – like many things – has complications," the Professor said. "The year you must be sent back to borders on the time of your birth, Master Skywalker. General Solo himself was already alive. It is very dangerous to send you back to a time where another… you… could be alive – especially if you are a Force-sensitive. The bonds of time would weaken and the Force would grow in power. As a consequence, there would be much more… Force-power, let us say… than the amount needed to keep everything in balance and alive. Strange things would begin to occur, such as people disappearing there and reappearing here. Some people might even be incapable of dying. A weak point in the Galaxy's material would form. If you somehow came into contact with your past-self and touched them, you would create a paradox. That would be enough to form a break in the bond and the entire Galaxy, if not the universe, would be torn apart."

"Emperor's Black Bones!" Jaina swore.

"Yes," Augustine said slowly, "an incomprehensible thought, isn't it? The Force would then try to patch the wound; pieces of the galaxy could end up all over the place and life would be forced to restart… or even be wiped out completely. You see that time travel isn't easy. One wrong step can do so much damage that every person who ever existed in all of time could be killed in a split second or an entire world could be destroyed. There are certain rules that we must abide to, or else everything would end in chaos." He paused for breath and gestured at Jaina as he continued.

"_You_ have to cause the death of the most powerful Sith Lord ever to live. This changes the course of history to the extremes. Furthermore, only one man can do that – even Master Yoda was not capable. You must rescue Anakin Skywalker and help him destroy Emperor Palpatine."

Augustine's hands gripped his chairs arm-rests; he continued speaking, but his voice was becoming increasingly more rapid. "You _must_ have him killed in such a way that it is complete and he can never return as a ghost, clone, _time traveler_ or otherwise. In doing so, your purpose will be complete. When you return to this time, Palpatine's sway will never have been held over the post-Empire galaxy. Everything will have been changed. The world you have left will be gone forever." He pointed a pale finger at Jaina.

"This is the task I lay on you. The person who can help turn the Chosen One back to the Light must be of his line, but at the same time cannot create a paradox. This leaves you as the only choice. Jaina Solo, are you ready?"

She felt as though the bottom of her stomach had dropped out. Yes, she had wanted to go on this mission, but alone? Her father was right, she knew nothing about the Old Republic, she could quite easily make a mistake that could potentially get her killed…

"It's too great a task for one so young, isn't it?" Augustine said softly. "You have a right to be frightened Jaina Solo."

"I'm _not_ frightened," she said firmly.

The Professor chuckled. "You hide your fear well. You have seen so much that is wrong, that is alien, that is wicked. But you have never time traveled. That thought alone frightens you more than anything you have ever seen or heard in your entire life. You would be a fool if you weren't scared."

"Jaina?" Leia's voice echoed softly in the air. Jaina chose to ignore it.

She frowned, a deep furrow across her brow. "It just seems impossible, Professor. Dad was right when he said I don't know anything of that world –"

"Nothing is impossible, Jaina Solo," Augustine replied. "Tell me… would you like to see your brothers alive again?"

Jaina felt her heart beat increase rapidly. _See Jacen again…_ "Is that possible?" she demanded.

"What do you think, Jaina Solo?" Augustine asked. "After all you have witnessed about Palpatine's power, what conclusions can you make?"

Her heart seemed to be racing out of control. "If he was destroyed when he was supposed to be," she said quickly, "the error would never have happened and Palpatine wouldn't have ever been here to kill… Jacen would still be alive!"

"Wait," Leia called. "Didn't you say _'brothers?'"_

Jaina spun to look at Augustine, wishing fervently that she could see his face so she could read his expressions. Hope was flooding through her… if he had said _brothers_ then that meant… Anakin.

Anakin would still be alive.

No longer would she be haunted by her memories, however deeply buried, of his last moments on Myrkr. He wouldn't die horribly, his body bursting with an aura before he drew his last breath, fighting the Yuuzhan Vong to the bitter end.

If she went back in time, not only did she save the Galaxy, she saved her family and her brothers. Then, when she returned, everything would be as it was before Anakin's death.

But… how to make it possible for Anakin to survive when she wasn't influencing events that directly linked with him, as it did for Jacen?

"I did indeed say 'brothers.'" Augustine's voice confirmed, jolting Jaina out of her thoughts.

"How is it possible that Anakin will survive?" Jaina demanded at once.

Augustine chuckled. "One of the species the Sith Lord controlled when he jumped through time was the Yuuzhan Vong," Augustine explained. "If your mission is successful, then they will never have attacked the Galaxy. Your brother will survive."

Jaina closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. She had this one chance to change everything… she could stop the Empire, stop the Vong, save hundreds of lives – and the lives of her brothers.

"I'll do it."

Silence fell over the chamber for a long moment.

"_No."_ Han's voice was firm but edged with anger. "She's not going."

Jaina shot a dangerous look at her father, annoyed. "Dad –"

"Jaina, it's too dangerous!" he shouted. "Both my sons have already died, I'm not about to lose my last child! We'll have no method of contacting you, we'll have no idea if you live or not!"

"Han," Luke said calmly, "Jaina's not a child. She has to make her own decisions. She's the only one who can go."

"No, she isn't," Han retorted. "There are plenty of other Jedi her own age."

"Han," Mara interrupted, her green eyes flashing dangerously, "think about this. We don't have time to find someone else. Right here, right now, the only person who can manage this task is Jaina."

Han opened his mouth to argue, but Jaina spoke quickly before her father had a chance to argue.

"They're right, Dad," she said firmly. "I have to make my own decisions. I'm going. This is my choice. If I can save the Galaxy, if I can save Jacen and Anakin, I'll do it – no matter what."

Han shook his head. "No."

Jaina rolled her eyes. Why did he always have to be so stubborn?

"Dad –"

"Absolutely not!" Han shouted. "Leia, _tell her!"_

Leia sighed. "No, Han. I can't do that. If Jaina can save my father, and the Galaxy, I'm not going to stop her. We've seen enough war; it's time this was finished for good."

"Well," Han growled, "if she goes, she's not going alone."

Jaina exhaled slowly, feeling irritated. He was still being so difficult…

"Dad, there's no one else who can—"

"I'll go," Kyp said suddenly.

Jaina spun around, astonished. "You?"

Kyp grinned. "Sure. Why not? _I_ won't be creating any paradoxes."

"Yes, but…" Jaina's voice trailed off. She wasn't sure why she was defending her decision to go alone; after all, it was an extraordinary mission that she was setting out on and she would need help. But Kyp? Yes, they had shared adventures and battles during the Yuuzhan Vong war, but that had been two years ago. She had worked with him, argued with him, learned from him – but she had never been able to fully trust him. How could she run off into the unknown with a man she could call a friend but never trust?

"Do you agree, Master Skywalker?" Kyp asked, turning to Luke.

Jaina opened her mouth to argue, but found that she had nothing to say.

"Yes," Luke said, nodding. "I think it _would_ be a good idea if you joined Jaina."

"But--!" Jaina began, but fell short. In truth, she couldn't find any reasonable arguments against Kyp.

"Very well, then," Augustine said.

"But…"

"Yes, Jaina?" Kyp asked, raising an eyebrow.

She looked away. "Oh, never mind," she said, defeated.

"You shall go now," Augustine said, standing up. "Follow me."

"Wait one moment," Jaina said quickly. "Please." She turned and ran to her father. "I'll see you soon, Dad," she whispered as she hugged him.

Han smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess. But I won't know when you get back."

Jaina stepped away. "It'll be all right," she said. "I promise." She turned to Leia and hugged her as well. "Mom…"

"Be safe, Jaina," Leia said softly, hugging her tightly.

"I'll try," Jaina replied.

A short smile flashed across Leia's face. "Try harder than you usually do," she said.

"She's getting emotional," Kyp commented to Corran.

Jaina released her mother and threw a dangerous look over her shoulder at Kyp. "Shut up," she ordered. "You can stop that right now or I'll forbid you to come with me."

"Jaina," Luke said.

Jaina walked towards him and hugged him as well. "I guess the Sword of the Jedi isn't doing a very good job of protecting the Jedi of the present," she said.

Luke chuckled. "The Sword of the Jedi will do her best to save the Galaxy," he told her.

"And I'm sure you will succeed," Mara added, smiling.

"Thank you, Aunt Mara," Jaina said. "Say goodbye to Ben for me."

"Best of luck," Mara said.

Jaina nodded and turned towards Corran. "Thanks for everything, I guess," she told him.

Corran shrugged. "Do your best, Jaina."

"Come!" Augustine's voice ordered sharply. "You must go _now._ Up on the dais."

Jaina nodded and walked quickly towards the dais, Kyp following her.

"How come Palpatine never detected you here?" Kyp asked suddenly, addressing Augustine.

The Professor hesitated. "I have ways to conceal myself. Now, stand by the pillar. _Quickly!"_

Jaina and Kyp climbed up on to the dais, approaching the massive pillar that stood in the centre. Jaina gasped in amazement; a surge in the Force flowed over her, making her skin tingle. Her senses were suddenly heightened – she could smell the overwhelming scent of the dark dampness that filled the chamber; she could taste the unpleasant stagnant air in the room; though they were standing behind her, she could almost see Han, Leia, Luke, Mara and Corran; she could feel the movement of air around the room as easily as one felt a breeze; and she could hear the rapid beating of her own heart, and the individual hearts of those around her. She frowned as she listened – from where Augustine was standing, she could almost hear a triple heartbeat.

Kyp's eyes were wide with astonishment as he looked around the room. "The Force is alive around here!" he said softly, amazed. "You can feel it."

Jaina nodded. "It's… I don't know…"

Kyp grinned. "Exactly."

"Jaina Solo!" Augustine called sharply.

Jaina turned around. The Professor was standing in front of them, right at the edge of the dais.

"Please," he said sternly, "we do not have time to speak of unimportant things. Listen to me very carefully. You will be pulled through the wormhole by your own Force-sensitivity. However, it is almost impossible to tell where you will come out. It may be this very planet, it may be Coruscant, it may be somewhere else. This will be your first time through a wormhole, so there will be side-effects that you are not used to. Luckily, it will be easier the next time you go through."

Jaina nodded, glancing at her parents and the others. They were watching anxiously.

"How do we get back?" Kyp asked.

"You may feel sick or weakened once you are on the other side, but –"

"Professor!" Kyp called loudly. "How do we get back?"

"We do not have time, you must leave _now,"_ Augustine replied shortly. "You will be able to find a second wormhole that will bring you back. Now, quickly! Concentrate on the time-period and face the pillar. It will act as a catalyst to help you through the wormhole. Think of the Clone wars. Think of Anakin's fall. It will bring you to the right time."

"Isn't that just a little random?" Jaina exclaimed, her voice rising.

"Face the pillar!" Augustine commanded.

"Jaina, Kyp!" Luke yelled. "Good luck! May the Force be with you!"

"Listen to me!" Augustine called; there was a strange anxiety in his voice. "It is _crucial_ that you succeed! You must succeed or else _everything will be destroyed!_ Now go!"

Jaina caught sight of Augustine, standing right at the edge of the dais, raising his pale hands. The Force grew stronger and she felt it pulling at her, like a wind did on a very windy day. She turned around, facing the pillar as Augustine had commanded. The pillar seemed to wobble, and it was if the _image_ of it had been torn in two. A deep, black abyss replaced it, dark blue bands and streaks of light swirling in the darkness. Jaina trembled; staring into that endless chasm frightened her. She felt as though her stomach had twisted itself up into a tight knot; her heart was beating rapidly out of control as she fought the panic that was rising in her.

She tried to think of everything she knew about the Clone wars, everything she knew about her grandfather, but she couldn't manage it. The only thing that crossed her mind was how terrible and mighty the dark abyss before her was.

Jaina squeezed her eyes shut as the Force continued to pull at her body. Suddenly, she felt as though she had been jerked off her feet. A dull pain grew in the pit of her stomach, making her feel like she was about to throw up. Wind tore at her body; she felt herself being tossed around as if she was no more than a child's doll. Her eyes opened slowly and were met with the sight of a whirlwind of colour that made her dizzy. Jaina shut her eyes again, not daring to watch the hurricane around her. She heard faint voices and noises, but soon they were all swallowed up by a soundless nothingness.

Suddenly, she slammed into something solid – solid and hard. Winded, with every part of her body aching, Jaina lay still as sound slowly came back to her. All the while, she kept her eyes tightly shut.


	4. General Grievous

**CHAPTER IV**

**General Grievous**

Jaina slowly cracked open an eye. The world around her was a fuzzy blur. She groaned and closed the eye again. There was a persistent pounding in her aching head that made it feel like it was about to explode. Her mouth was dry and raw and her throat burned; she was quite certain that her stomach was attempting to fly out of her mouth. She tried to move, but her muscles didn't seem to want to answer to her commands – they reacted sluggishly, barely moving.

She heard a strange groaning noise somewhere above her and something hit her feet. She opened her eyes and saw Kyp's blurred form tumbling over beside her.

"I don't feel so great," he said slowly, his voice slurred.

Jaina looked at him through blurred eyes. "You look like you're drunk," she grunted, her voice garbled and somewhat higher pitched than usual. She was very aware of how dry her mouth was. She had a strong craving for water.

"This is the worst hangover I've ever had…" Kyp's voice muttered sluggishly.

"Durron," Jaina growled, rolling her eyes, "for once it _isn't_ a hangover. Why do you always deny it when you do have one but you're so certain that you have one when you don't?"

The sentence even sounded like a garbled mess to her own ears.

"Shut up, Jaina," Kyp grumbled. "What you're saying doesn't make sense. Give me some time to think…"

Jaina groaned, feeling too awful to retort. Her head felt like someone trying to use a lightsaber to slowly burn a hole straight through her head. The rest of her body was distinctly cold and numb. She shivered, her head throbbing with a consistent ache. She was certain that it was about to burst.

Kyp and Jaina remained where they were, lying on the ground, for several long moments, trying to recuperate. Finally, Jaina forced her resistant muscles to work and very carefully sat up. She raised a hand and rubbed the back of her aching neck as she looked around.

They were in a dark alley. Its design wasn't familiar and there was a strange, _industrial_-like tang in the air. She looked around, mesmerized. The buildings reached up into the sky, obstructing her view of the red sky and spitting out long wisps of black clouds.

Suddenly, a loud snore disrupted her concentration. Jaina glanced at Kyp's motionless body and, annoyed, nudged him.

"Wake up!"

He mumbled something incomprehensible.

"Kyp, get up!" She punched his shoulder.

His eyes snapped open. "Oi, Jaina! Knock it off." He pushed her hand away before she could punch him again. "Where are we?"

She snorted. "Have you lost your senses completely? Don't you remember?"

"I've just had the worst hangover in the history of hangovers," Kyp snapped, "I just fell asleep and was having a very good dream and then _you_ come out of nowhere and punch me. Of course I… wait." He paused, looking around to get their bearings. "Sithspit!"

"What?" Jaina demanded.

Kyp didn't answer her. He gazed off in the distance for several long moments before turning and staring at her in amazement. "We're here. We made it. This solves any doubt we had before. Time travel does exist."

Jaina sighed exasperatedly. "Oh, what _amazing _comments he makes!" she exclaimed sarcastically, scowling as Kyp rolled his eyes. "Remind me never to invite you on a trip through time ever again." She stood up, wincing as her muscles still protested against movement. "Come on, we need to find out what part of Coruscant this is."

"I don't think this is Coruscant," Kyp said grimly as he got to his feet. "It doesn't feel right."

Jaina frowned. "Yes… Augustine never did explain very well how it the transfer worked… Unless we're in some industrial zone." She shrugged. Since the travel through the wormhole had worked, just like Augustine had said, the probabilities of them also arriving on Coruscant like he said were high. "I think we are on Coruscant."

"This definitely _isn't_ Coruscant," Kyp answered firmly.

"Then where are we?" Jaina retorted. "Corellia? Really doubt it. We're here."

"Can we trust your better judgment?"

She punched his shoulder. Kyp jumped back, startled.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

Jaina glared at him.

"Fine, fine…" Kyp spread his hands, surrendering. "If we are on Coruscant, then we'll need to find the Jedi Temple."

"Of course," Jaina shot back. "Way to state the obvious."

Kyp shot her a dark look and continued as if she hadn't interrupted him. "We need to find your grandfather and keep a close eye on him before he goes to the dark side on us. What does he look like?"

Jaina glowered. "No idea, like Uncle Luke? But there's probably no good looking for him on Coruscant. Ten to one, judging from the stories, he's on some mission."

"Must be a family trait," Kyp commented.

Jaina smiled briefly. "Right. Let's get going. We have to start somewhere."

They moved off down the alley at a run. It twisted and turned, leading them deeper into the complex layout of buildings.

"Wait," Jaina cried suddenly, "stop!"

Kyp skidded to a halt. "What?"

Jaina held up a hand as she looked around, her eyes trying to pierce the gloom. "Do you sense something?"

Kyp hesitated. "Yeah. Something's –"

"Lurking," Jaina finished.

They fell silent for a moment. Jaina scanned the area with both her eyes and the Force and felt Kyp doing the same.

"It's moving," Jaina murmured.

"And I don't think it's friendly," Kyp added. "It's heading towards us."

Jaina stood still, hardly breathing, listening intently. She could sense the thing approaching them, slowly, silently, keeping to the shadows. She looked at Kyp and raised an eyebrow. He nodded slowly.

They whirled around, lightsabers igniting as blaster fire showered down on them.

"Jedi scum!" The voice was human, male, and livid. "Stun them!"

Jaina spun, just as two stun bolts shot towards them. She raised her lightsaber to deflect them, and watched as they bounced off her blade –

Something hit her on the back and she collapsed. Fighting to keep consciousness, Jaina saw Kyp fall to the ground beside her as he was hit with a stun bolt from behind. Her eyes flickered, but she tried to keep them open.

Someone walked towards them, pausing several feet away.

"Take their lightsabers and any other weapons they have. We'll take them to General Grievous. He may be interested in Jedi captives."

Jaina felt her lightsaber being prised from her grasp. She fought to keep hold of it, but was too weak. Finally, her eyes closed and she succumbed to unconsciousness.

* * *

Kyp knew that they were in a bad situation the moment he woke up. The next few minutes were enough to prove that their current position was worse than he and Jaina could have imagined.

They were on some kind of ship, although he didn't recognize what type or class. Their prison was a small, cramped chamber that buzzed with the sound of working engines. Kyp sat on the floor, legs crossed, and acknowledged their situation – captured, no lightsabers, and on a strange ship with unknown enemies.

_That pretty much sums it up,_ he thought.

It was nothing they couldn't handle.

He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, wincing slightly. His muscles still ached from the trip through time and being hit with a stun bolt probably didn't help the condition much.

Beside him, Jaina stirred, coming to. Her hand drifted at her side, trying to find her lightsaber. He watched as she frowned in her semi-conscious state; she murmured something unintelligible. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she sprang up, looking around wildly.

"Where--?"

Kyp waved from his spot on the floor. "Over here," he said.

A brief smile flickered across her face, but her irate expression didn't disappear.

"We're captured, _aren't we?"_ she demanded hotly.

Kyp shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah. Are you dissatisfied with how they're treating us so far?"

Jaina scowled. "Have you even _tried_ opening the door?" she snapped.

Kyp rolled his eyes. He knew full-well that at times he himself was reckless, but Jaina had an aptitude for blundering into things without thinking about them before hand.

"We're unarmed, Jaina, and facing enemies we don't even know about," he told her coolly. "Charging out of this room isn't the best thing to do right now."

Jaina glared angrily at him for a moment before she sat down, grimacing. "This is _completely_ natural," she said bitterly. "The first thing we manage to do is get ourselves caught."

"Yeah, well, it's us," Kyp said pointedly. "Something wrong is bound to happen."

"Thanks," Jaina bit out.

Suddenly, the door to their cell retracted into the ceiling. Kyp and Jaina both spun around to see who was entering. Jaina groaned.

"Oh, how wonderful," Kyp muttered sarcastically.

"It's not very satisfactory to find that our captors aren't even people," Jaina murmured darkly.

They were facing droids. Droids carrying guns.

At least they were in the right time period, Kyp thought. Out of all the things that could have gone wrong, they hadn't messed that up. Of course, ideally, they _wouldn't_ have been captured by the enemy, but the Galaxy wasn't perfect.

"Stand!" the lead battle droid ordered in a squeaky, mechanical voice. "Hands up!"

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Jaina murmured under her breath.

Kyp smiled briefly. If they hadn't been staring into the muzzle of a blaster, their current situation would have been amusing. The battle droids, with their high, robotic voices and their skinny, pink bodies seemed completely unfit for battle. It seemed impossible that something so pathetic was trying to kill them.

The battle droids, their guns pointed steadily at their captives, marched Kyp and Jaina down the ship's wide corridors.

"Where do you think we're going," Kyp muttered to Jaina under his breath.

"Probably to meet the captain," Jaina answered.

"My thought exactly." He grimaced. "I doubt that he is going to be friendly."

* * *

It was impossible not to be repulsed. The _thing_ that stood before them could not compare to anything she had seen before. The Yuuzhan Vong had been one thing – seemingly diabolic aliens that survived on bloodlust and their overwhelming, insane devotion to their Gods. Still, she had learned to understand them and she had learned to accept them. They, at least, had been actual living creatures capable of emotions.

This captain, on the other hand, was a made monstrosity. He was a killing machine with remnants of a living being hidden deep inside a durasteel skeleton; the tangible stuff of nightmares. The person who had designed him, crafted him, made him work (she refused to use the word "alive") was a genius; a genius with a very disturbed mind.

What made it worse was that the monster was handling _her_ lightsaber. She wanted to snatch it away from him, make him fight. But he had others – a collection of lightsabers. She knew how he had gotten them and was repulsed even more. He was a Jedi killer who cut down his enemies with their own weapons and then kept the lightsabers as trophies. It was sick. It was disturbing.

Jaina could see no way out of this one.

She and Kyp were standing on the bridge under heavy guard by the battle droids. They had been joined by larger, more ferocious-looking droids that closely resembled humans. They were large and sturdily built; some kind of super-droid.

She never wanted to see another droid in her life. She almost wished that the Yuuzhan Vong had chosen this year to attack the Galaxy – their hatred of droids would be enough to completely destroy this side of the war. But then again… Augustine said that Palpatine had played a part in the Vong invasion.

Her stomach curled as she thought of the Sith Lord's name. He was responsible for so many deaths. He was despicable and she found that if she had to hate anyone in the world, it would be him. He had done too much damage to the Galaxy to be forgiven.

Jaina was jerked back into reality by the captain's harsh, mechanical voice.

"What would two Jedi be doing on Raxus Prime – in the _industrial zone?"_

Jaina wasn't capable of answering – she was too busy glaring disgustedly at the captain's poisonous, yellow eyes.

"Can we say that that is confidential information?" Kyp replied mildly.

The captain's voice dissolved into a hacking cough. "'Confidential information?' You have almost as much nerve as Anakin Skywalker, Jedi."

Kyp raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I appreciate your boldness, but we must be moving along," the captain continued silkily. "I have a kidnapping to execute, but I would _love_ to enjoy a long duel with you."

The captain's durasteel fingers stroked their lightsabers at his side. Jaina hissed in disgust. The bio-droid found Kyp's weapon and held it in front of him.

"Curious design, Jedi," he murmured as quietly as his synthesized voice would allow. He activated the lightsaber and the fiery blade burst out, hissing, casting a crimson glow.

The droid captain stumbled back in surprise and looked up at Kyp. "You're not a Jedi, are you?" His voice was hoarse in surprise and indignation.

Jaina's mind whirled. Here they were, in an age where the Sith were attempting to dominate the Galaxy. The captain evidently knew of them and their standard of making… _red_ lightsabers.

She grinned inwardly. They weren't ready to give in to a fight just yet.

"You've guessed right, Captain," Jaina said quickly, trying to hide her excitement. "We're serving under the Sith Lord."

The bio-droid's head swivelled and he glared right at her. "'Captain'? And where have you been not to know that _I_ am General Grievous?"

Jaina swore silently. A mistake – she needed to learn more about this world before she made any more blunders. Curse Palpatine for destroying so much of the information about the Old Republic during his reign as Emperor!

"We were in the Unknown Regions," she recovered hastily, "searching for useful information. We have only just been pulled out from our station."

"And yet," Grievous said calmly, "the Unknown Regions are _across the Galaxy_ from us. How is it that you arrived here first instead of reporting to Coruscant?"

Jaina opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out. Her throat was stuck.

"And how is it," Grievous continued, "that Lord Sidious suddenly has more than one apprentice?"

"General Grievous," Kyp interrupted coldly, "this is a most secret matter. You know we are Sith apprentices; but we cannot permit you to know more about our master than you already do."

"Then I suppose we must deal with this 'most secret matter' _after_ Chancellor Palpatine is captured."

"I look forward to solving this matter," Grievous concluded, his mechanical voice dripping with as much anticipation as his synthesizers would allow.

Kyp inclined his head. "As do I."

Grievous ordered them to be locked in separate cells under close watch. He would keep their lightsabers until he found the truth behind their words. Jaina was seething with irritation and anger as they were marched back along the halls. Kyp was separated from her at one of the many intersecting hallways; they were being taken to separate cells. Jaina watched as he was taken away before she, too, was dragged along another corridor to her own cell. Once thrown inside, she allowed herself to vent her feelings by kicking the wall.

The only good it did was cause a large amount of throbbing pain in her big toe.

She resigned herself to meditation. Sinking into the Force, she let relaxed, letting her mind concentrate. They had names to work with now. General Grievous… Lord Sidious…

_Don't think_, she told herself. _Relax. You need to calm down. _

The only thought that kept coming back to her was mingled with bafflement: why was Palpatine having himself captured by his own side?

Kyp sat in meditation, his mind wandering the broad halls of the ship, trying to get a feel for the layout. As he ran along the corridors, he felt the ships engines working faster; the ship was taking off. They were no doubt headed for Coruscant.

His mind halted somewhere on the east end of the ship. He detected a dark presence floating through the Force, contentedly sitting in the grip of the dark side letting its enthralling power consume the Force-signature entirely to its will.

It was also unfamiliar.

Kyp sighed. He had been hoping at first contact with the presence that it was Palpatine, but he knew how unlikely that would have been if "Lord Sidious" had ordered General Grievous to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine.

Lord Sidious was no doubt Palpatine. But another _Sith_…

He could have slapped himself. Hadn't Grievous said: "And how is it that Lord Sidious suddenly has more than one apprentice?"

Of _course_ there would have been another Sith here! Countless stories about the Sith always mentioned how they traveled in pairs, Master and Apprentice. Unfortunately, this Sith Lord was no doubt armed and ready for combat. It was sheer bad luck that they, two exhausted and unarmed Jedi, were trapped onboard the same ship as one of their traditional enemies.

Kyp drew his mind back to his cell. Would the Sith confront them immediately or would he wait until they managed to get their weapons back and enjoy the combat? It was impossible for him to guess what the Sith would do; no doubt he felt their presence here and he would eventually confront them, but the question was when… and how.

_Kyp?_

Jaina's presence echoed through his mind. Kyp grinned; while they hadn't used the Force-meld they had forged with their friends when fighting the Yuuzhan Vong for a couple years, it was still strong and easily accessible.

_Yeah?_

_We're in a bit of a problem, _Jaina sent. _There's a Sith Lord on board –_

_Who's not Palpatine. I know. _

_We should have gotten our lightsabers back when we had the chance. _She was angry with herself; her presence betrayed her emotions.

_We'll get them back soon. We're not about to give up._

Jaina somehow managed to snort through the Force.

_You think I'm gonna give up because I don't have my _lightsaber?

_No. Obviously _not. _No one has more resolve than you._

Jaina's presence flickered, almost as if she didn't quite know what to say and was drawing back.

_Durron, are you _mocking _me?_ she demanded hotly.

Kyp didn't answer, but grinned and laughed instead. His amusement bounded through the Force like a shockwave. Jaina's Force-signature flickered with irritated amusement and she reached out in response. Their minds melded together. An image of her swinging a lightsaber towards him filled his mind.

He grinned. Two could play at mental lightsaber duels.


	5. Aboard the Invisible Hand

**CHAPTER V**

**Aboard the **_**Invisible Hand**_

Count Dooku, or Darth Tyranus as he was sometimes called, stormed towards the bridge of the _Invisible Hand _in a towering rage. General Grievous, it seemed, had gone just one step too far.

_Jedi._ He mentally spat the word like a curse. There had been Jedi on board even before they had moved a light-year towards Coruscant. And Grievous had let them live, saving them for later interrogation. They could escape their cells at any time and create such havoc that they wouldn't be able to capture the Chancellor.

Luckily, they hadn't moved yet. As far as he knew, they were meditating.

There was no use trying to get them off board now. They were almost at Coruscant, ready to set their plan in action and abduct the Chancellor. They had no time to interrogate the Jedi before killing them. They would either have to be restrained or killed. Which would be a loss, as they no doubt had vital information. Extracting it from them would be a challenge.

General Grievous had his back turned when the Sith Lord entered. With his usual calm, steely outward appearance, he swept towards the vile General.

"General," he said coldly, "why are there Jedi aboard my vessel?"

The bio-droid turned around and coughed in greeting. "Ah, Count Dooku. I'm afraid that I must contradict you. There are no Jedi on board the ship."

Dooku arched an eyebrow. Inwardly, he snorted in disgust. How could the General be that blind? Were his manufactured eyes failing?

"General, I know for certain that there are Jedi on board the _Invisible Hand,"_ Dooku replied frigidly, his eyes glaring. "I have felt their presence through the Force. There is no doubt. How could you not have known that they came aboard before we left Raxus Prime?"

Grievous metal fingers stroked Kyp Durron's lightsaber. "I let them on board, Count Dooku," the General said silkily. "We captured them out in the industrial zone."

Dooku's eyes flashed. _"You let them on board?"_ His voice was quicker than usual, its deep, guttural tone burning with irritation and anger. "You let _Jedi_ on board this ship?"

"Ah," Grievous said softly, "but they aren't Jedi. I, too, thought they were, but I have proof that they aren't."

"Any proof given to you from them is false," Dooku snapped.

Grievous laughed – harsh, mechanical, grinding. "So much do you know." He lifted a lightsaber in one hand and ignited it. The crimson blade slithered out, crackling with energy. "This is clearly the weapon of a Sith."

Dooku's rage was nearly uncontrollable. General Grievous had now shown that he was useless. Seen as inconceivably evil and with a keen and penetrating mind, the General was really no more than a sightless, gullible piece of animated metal.

The ire building up inside the Sith Lord flashed upon his face for a moment before it was cloaked again. He would be patient – patient like his Master. After the Chancellor was captured, there would be no more need for Grievous and his futile ways.

"General Grievous," he said coolly, "let me complete your incomplete knowledge. Your captives _are_ Force-sensitives. But nothing, not even wielding a red lightsaber, can deny the fact that they are Jedi."

Grievous' yellow eyes made contact with Dooku's. "Are you… certain?"

"Very certain, General. Ignite the other Jedi's lightsaber."

Grievous' reached for the second lightsaber and activated it. A vivid blue-violet blade burst forth, humming perfectly in time with the red saber.

"As you can see, General," Dooku continued icily, "if Sith were determined by the colour of their lightsabers, why would a Sith's accomplice have a purple blade?"

"I see," Grievous answered, his voice impassive. "Nevertheless, I will keep them under tight guard until the Chancellor is taken. Then I will deal with them myself. I look forwards to engaging the one who has been impersonating Skywalker's traits."

Dooku paused. He was about to say that they should kill them immediately, but if he could extract information from one of them… This was a valuable chance they could not miss. And once they had Darth Sidious on board, the Jedi would be of no threat, especially when unarmed.

"Very well, General," Dooku concluded. "You will have your way. Keep them under tight security."

Grievous bowed his head in acknowledgement. Dooku turned and swiftly left the bridge. There would be much activity once they reached Coruscant.

* * *

Jaina jerked out of a meditative state as the ship began shuddering upon exiting hyperspace. She sat bolt-upright, her mind quickly seeking out Kyp's. He was awake and alert, paying as much attention to what was going on around them as she was.

Relaxing, she stretched and rubbed the back of her neck. The muscles had seized up.

She froze. She sensed the presence of the Sith Lord, drawing nearer. She shivered slightly; she was uncertain what to expect from this Sith. Her last meeting with a Sith Lord had not gone very well, after all.

The ship shuddered again. The door to her cell retracted and a man stepped into the dark, crammed room.

In the dim light, he seemed like a shadow. He was tall, dressed in black, and as far as she could make out, had silver hair. A powerful aura surrounded him, emanating nothing but the dark side. Here was the Sith Lord, in all his power. She wondered why all the Sith Lord from this particular era where so _old._

Perhaps it had something to do with the desire for unending power.

"Who are you?" she asked quickly, staring straight at him.

The Sith Lord raised an eyebrow, surprised. "As if you do not know," he replied calmly. His voice was deep and resounding – just the sound of it made her shiver. She wished that she had heard more about the Sith Lords of her grandparents' time; asking certain questions had established way of getting her into more trouble than she needed.

"How did you get to Raxus Prime?" the Sith Lord asked coolly.

She snorted scornfully. She was on the verge of saying "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me" but decided against it. Instead, she retorted fervently, "As if I'd tell _you."_

"Jedi on board the ship even before we reached Coruscant," the Sith Lord said coldly, "dressed in the oddest clothing I have ever seen and pretending to be Sith. This is indeed an odd turn of events and quite unnatural. I would like to know more. I repeat, how did you get to Raxus Prime?"

She felt something quietly pushing against her mind. She reacted instantly, setting up defences and pushing the presence away from her. She could have laughed – no Force users would be able to pull another mind trick on her, not even this Sith Lord. Kyp had been crafty enough – she remembered a slight buzzing pressure, but not much else. She could now detect anything.

"And I repeat, I won't tell you."

Jaina glared fiercely at him.

The Sith Lord stared at her for a moment before turning. "I shall try your friend, although I am quite sorry to say that you may need a little… ah… _persuasion."_

Jaina glared. "No matter what you do, I won't tell you _anything."_

The Sith Lord sighed. "Such a loss."

He left the cell and the door slid shut.

Jaina sighed and sat down again, massaging the back of her neck that was still incredibly sore.

Time passed. In the darkness of her cell, she waited. She wondered where they were and what was happening. She had sensed the Sith Lord wandering the ship's halls, but that had been what seemed like several hours ago. She lay down on the cold floor, her hands over her face, slipping into a trance-like state, her mind going blank.

* * *

The _Invisible Hand_ was waiting outside Coruscant's atmosphere. The Separatist armies had landed on the planet, sending the capital's entire population into a frightened standby. None of the populace could believe that their enemies had dared to attack the capital.

The brewing storm had now erupted. The Separatist armies forced their way into the Senate and fought their way back, the purpose of their attack hidden in the chaotic mess of the invasion that wasn't an invasion. With their job done, the armies took flight, heading back for their assigned ships.

Down on the planet, the brewing storm exploded with fear and anger. Fear of what the Separatists could have done and could still do, and anger with what they had carried out.

The Chancellor had been kidnapped. Without their long-time leader, everything would end. And with Palpatine in Grievous' hands… the thought of what the monster-general could do to him was too horrid for most.

However, there was hope left. The Republic would not give in without a fight. There was hope, because the best armies were being sent to retrieve the Chancellor, and at the head of the armies were the two most dynamic and iconic figures of the Clone Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

The perfect, unbeatable team.

The team that was hurtling towards a new destiny – a destiny that had been changed the moment Jaina Solo and Kyp Durron had arrived on Raxus Prime.

* * *

There was something wrong when Jaina snapped awake once again. She thought she knew perfectly well what it was, and she didn't like it one bit.

The ship was being fired at.

Jaina didn't mind enemy ships being fired at. What she did mind was enemy ships being fired at while she was still on them.

There was only one thing to do if one was on an enemy ship that was under fire: find an escape pod. It was time to get out of her cell.

Reaching into the Force, she slipped into her Force-meld mode and called Kyp.

_Durron?_

_Yeah, I know we're under fire, Jaina!_

_It's time to go!_

_I know!_

Without waiting for any further replies, Jaina reached out with the Force. The door retracted into the ceiling and she ducked out and into a wave of blaster fire. Battle droids.

She dodged around a corner and pushed out; the battle droids went flying into the wall and crumpled. Unluckily, she was still being followed by two large super battle droids. They, evidently, were not as easily broken as the lower-class ones.

Without giving them any more chances of killing her, Jaina sprinted down the hallway, wishing she had her lightsaber. As soon as she found Kyp, they were going down to the bridge to get their weapons back from Grievous, fight or no fight.

As she ran, she hoped she would find Kyp soon – she was lost already and the droids were still on her tail. She passed a turbolift and thought she heard yelling, but she wasn't sure. She hoped desperately that she wouldn't run into the Sith Lord.

She caught sight of a small, side corridor and dashed down it before the droids could lumber around the corner. Peering out from the shadows, she saw them run clumsily down the hallway and out of sight. Grinning to herself, she slipped out from her hiding place and headed in the opposite direction.

_Durron, where are you?_

_Right by the turbolift. _His presence was bristling with irritation. _Where are _you?

She didn't reply and sprinted back down the hallway. In minutes, she was back at the lift. Kyp was waiting for her, and he wasn't looking very happy.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Those droids!" he snarled.

"Speaking of droids," she said, determination on the edge of her words, "I'm gonna get my lightsaber back. Then we'll find an escape pod and we'll get out of here."

He threw a dark look at her and nodded. "And I'm going to get that Grievous thing too while we're at it."

She arched an eyebrow. "And solve the 'confidential matter?'" she said waspishly before flashing a grin and darting down the hallway, Kyp following closely.

The way to the bridge of the _Invisible Hand_ was unguarded. As they cautiously rounded corner after corner, always ready to slam any waiting battle droids into crumpled pieces of metal with the Force, Jaina began to feel unnerved by the lack of guards. When they finally reached the entrance to their destination, she quickly scanned the bridge with the Force and sensed several battle droids, Neimodians wrapped in tight crash webbing and Grievous.

Jaina took a deep breath, and then she and Kyp walked confidently into the room.

The bio-droid general was standing at the window, gazing out at a vicious and fiery space battle. As Jaina saw the fighters rolling out from under their enemies, she was suddenly attacked by a powerful desire of to join them in battle. She longed to return to the comfort of her own X-wing.

"General Grievous," Jaina said calmly in a loud, strong voice, announcing their presence.

The general turned and she swallowed the sourness she felt when seeing his disgusting person. If he had had a proper face, she could have sworn that he would have been smiling cruelly.

"Ah," Grievous breathed, "the Jedi have returned."

Several of the Neimodians loosened their crash webbing and stretched their necks to see behind them.

Jaina lifted her chin defiantly. She had expected that the Sith Lord had told Grievous that they were no Sith.

"We have returned to retrieve two things that belong to us, Grievous," she said mildly. "We could save you a trip down the road of destruction if you would agree to give us our lightsabers back."

Grievous clanked slowly towards her and Kyp. When he drew level, his yellow eyes seemed to narrow. "I have been looking forwards to this confrontation since you came aboard my ship," he said, his voice emotionless. "However, I would prefer _not_ to have to give you your weapons back."

Jaina arched an eyebrow. "Very well. It seems that as you are not willing to cooperate, we shall have to take decisive action."

_This is your turn, Durron,_ she sent as soon as she was done speaking.

Kyp lashed out with the Force just as Jaina shoved a Force-wave into the battle droids standing guard; their lightsabers flew out from their spots at Grievous' belt and the droids slammed into the wall, the air screeching with the sound of breaking metal.

"Jaina!"

She turned and caught her lightsaber. The blue-violet blade burst into life, crackling with energized power. General Grievous hissed.

Kyp approached him with his crimson blade pointed at the bio-droid's neck. "You said you wanted to enjoy a long duel with us," he said darkly. "Here's your chance."

Before the general could respond, Jaina heard the clanking of approaching droids. Her mind froze. This was _not_ good…

_Kyp,_ she sent hurriedly, _I hate to break up your engagement with Grievous, but we've got trouble on the door step._

"I would be honoured," Grievous replied to Kyp's challenge. His metal arms divided into two and the two pairs of hands reached for four lightsabers and ignited them. Kyp backed away, momentarily in shock, and cursed.

_Durron, let's get out of here! _Jaina urged.

"I am so sorry to disrupt this meeting," Kyp said blithely, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Perhaps another time?"

Grievous launched a vicious swipe at Kyp's head; the Jedi Master dodged, parried the blow and ran backwards.

"See you!" he called, his voice deeply sarcastic, as he and Jaina jumped backwards into the hall and sprinted away.

* * *

Grievous growled as he watched the cowards flee. Now there were _two_ sets of Jedi loose on the ship. He looked at the approaching column of battle droids.

"After them!" he snarled. "But do not kill them – I want to execute them _personally._ And get their lightsabers!"

"Roger, General," the lead battle droid said in its robotic voice as it signalled for the others to follow him off the bridge.

The general turned and began pacing, seething with irritation and anger. Those Jedi weren't like any other Jedi. They were abnormal, impulsive, and dynamic and at the moment he wanted nothing more than to see them both dead.

His built-in comlink buzzed, only infuriating him more. Though he wanted to rip it out, he touched the sensor implant and answered it. "Yes," he growled sharply.

"The Jedi almost certainly escaped the conning spire, sir."

Grievous listened intently to the voice of one of his specialized combat droids. It was no doubt talking about the loose Jedi that had pierced the hangar bay's shields and had entered the ship.

"We recovered a lightsaber from the base of the turbolift shaft before the spire tore free," the droid continued.

"Copy that," Grievous said, his voice a low growl. "Stand by for instructions."

He marched over to the Neimodian security officer.

"Have you located them, or are you about to die?" he demanded viciously.

The officer made a terrified noise that sounded like a question and pointed at the schematic of the ship's hangar deck. A bright marker was moving slowly across the area identified as Bay One.

"What is that?" Grievous demanded coldly.

"It's… it's… it's the Chancellor's _beacon_, sir," the officer replied nervously.

"What?" Grievous growled. "The Jedi never deactivated it? Why not?"

"I, well… I can't actually –"

"Idiots," Grievous snarled. At least this pair of Jedi would be easy to find, unlike the other.

"If… if… if you hadn't – er, I mean, please recall my security console has been destroyed, and so I have been forced to reroute –"

"Silence," Grievous ordered coldly. "Order all combat droids to terminate their search algorithms and converge on the bridge – all combat droids except the ones following the nameless Jedi."

The officer returned to work and Grievous pushed the sensor implant to activate his comlink.

"IG-One-oh-one."

"Sir."

"Assemble a team of super battle droids and droidekas," Grievous ordered, "as many as you can gather and report to the hangar deck. I'll give you the exact coordinates as soon as they are available."

"Yes, sir."

"You will find at least one Jedi, possibly two, in the company of Chancellor Palpatine, imprisoned by a ray shield. They are to be considered extremely dangerous. Disarm them and deliver them to the bridge. If you find two other Jedi on the way, detain them and bring them with you."

"If they are so dangerous, perhaps we should execute them on the spot."

"No," Grievous said firmly. "My orders are clear that the Chancellor is not to be harmed. And the Jedi…" He grinned internally at the thought. The more Jedi on the bridge, the merrier. "The Jedi I will execute _personally."_


	6. A Meeting with Destiny

**CHAPTER VI**

**A Meeting with Destiny**

Jaina and Kyp hurtled down the hall, the droids hot in pursuit. If she had had the breath to talk, Jaina would have commented angrily about the size of those monsters.

Everything had been going perfectly well until they had run almost straight into the troop of supreme battle droids and the group of warriors chasing them doubled. Now they had two sets of battle droids on their tail, and they had flown through so many corridors and hallways that they had no idea where they were.

To make matters worse, the ship was clearly breaking apart. Jaina could hear the terrifying screeching noises echoing throughout the ship.

As they slid around a corner, closely avoiding the blaster fire that plunged into the wall instead of into them, they clearly heard the bursts of battle droid chatter ahead of them:

"_Hand over your weapons!"_

"_Roger, roger!"_

Jaina groaned inwardly.

The two Jedi didn't bother to consider their options. Running into the battle droids was a better option than facing the super battle droids and their monstrous mechanical partners that were slowly closing in on them.

Reaching out with the Force as she ran, Jaina swiped the droids into the wall as they rounded the corner, shattering them into pieces of metal. It was a tactic that worked very well.

"Jaina, _stop!"_ Kyp's voice rang out.

She looked up and skidded to a halt several centimetres away from a glistening ray shield. Kyp's grip on her arm pulled her back before she ran into it.

Three faces stared out in amazement from behind the glittering shield.

Two were clearly Jedi. One was far older than the other. He had a wise face, blondish hair and bear and sparkling, knowledgeable blue-grey eyes. As she looked at him, Jaina was under the impression that this was the calmer one; he gave off a distinctive feeling that he'd prefer to talk his way out of trouble rather than fight his way through it.

Here was a supreme Jedi of the Old Republic.

The other Jedi was younger and as his friend gave off the aura of a negotiator, _he_ gave off the aura of a fighter. Recklessness and hotheadedness glowed through his blue eyes. As she looked at him she was under the impression that she had seen his face somewhere before. Then it hit her.

_Uncle Luke._

This young Jedi, the man who was clearly around the same age as Jaina herself, resembled her uncle so much that she couldn't help but stare at him. The long, tangled blondish-brown hair, the glowing blue eyes filled with a youthful mirth, the rugged shape of his jaw-line… she could see her uncle in him, even though he bore the scars of war.

A lump formed in her throat. Behind the glistening ray shield, only a few feet away from her, was her grandfather. Her grandfather who was younger than her.

She shivered. Time travel was the most extraordinary thing the Force had ever allowed.

The last man in the trio behind the ray shield was white-haired, pale and somewhat shaken by whatever had happened to him in the last few hours. He was dressed in formal garments, so Jaina supposed that her grandfather was here to protect him. There was something familiar about him too, although she couldn't quite perceive it yet.

She blinked. Suddenly, it all came crashing down on her as she remembered puzzling over why Palpatine was having himself kidnapped by his own side. There was no doubt; here was Palpatine, being _rescued_ by the side he was supposed to be _against, _being rescued by Jedi…

It still confused her. For now, she decided, it didn't matter. A bubbling hatred in the pit of her stomach was rising. Here was the man who had killed her brother. Here was the man who had killed her _grandfather_ and separated him from her mother and uncle. Here was the man who had wrecked the Galaxy and brought down the Old Republic and who, in fifty-six years time, would bring the destruction of the Galaxy… if she and Kyp didn't succeed here.

Her hands balled into fists. There was only a ray shield protecting Palpatine from her fury and once that ray shield was down, she would strangle him with her own bare hands –

Kyp stepped on her foot, successfully bringing her back to reality. She blinked as an astromech droid gave a little _ferwoop._ She would know that droid anywhere.

"R2?" she gasped, the words escaping her.

Kyp stepped harder on her foot.

"OUCH!" she yelped. "Durron, what was_ that_ for?"

He glared meaningfully at her.

She was quite aware of Anakin and his companions staring in bewilderment at her and Kyp.

Before her grandfather could say anything, the doors to the side corridors slide aside and through them rolled the massive metal forms of droidekas, who promptly angled their blasters at the Jedi trapped by the ray shield. They were followed by the arrival of the super battle droids tailing Kyp and Jaina, who came crashing down the corridor they had just run down.

Kyp and Jaina ignited their lightsabers as the droidekas swivelled and aimed at them.

"What?!" an incredulous voice breathed.

Jaina sighed and glanced briefly at Anakin and Obi-Wan, who were staring disbelievingly at Kyp's lightsaber blade.

There would be a lot of explaining to do.

Before the droidekas could open fire, before the Jedi could attempt to fight them, two large, humanoid droids marched into the hall. Jaina groaned when she saw them.

Grievous' personal droids. The nightmarish monster droids.

One of them pointed the staff at the ray shields and the energy fields disappeared.

"He _said,_" it growled, "hand over your _weapons_, Jedi!"

Kyp glanced around at the droidekas and super battle droids aiming their blasters at them. He nodded at Jaina. She sighed and they deactivated their sabers.

_Don't think I'm going to give up,_ she sent.

_I'd _never_ doubt you,_ Kyp replied, smirking.

"Anakin," the older Jedi said quietly to Jaina's grandfather, "what exactly are those things?"

Anakin observed the massive droids for a moment before answering. "I saw an Intel report on this; I think those are Grievous' personal bodyguard droids. Prototypes built to his specifications. To fight Jedi," he added softly.

"That's always good to know," Jaina muttered.

Anakin stared at her. She glanced away, a slight flush coming to her cheeks. She wouldn't normally be embarrassed, but this was her _grandfather _she was talking to. This weird phenomenon was taking its toll on her.

"Who--?" Anakin began, but the threatening presence of Grievous' personal bodyguards interrupted him.

"I think we need to move to Plan B," his Jedi friend suggested.

"The Chancellor's idea is sounding pretty good to me right now," Anakin replied softly.

His companion nodded and moved forwards to offer his lightsaber to Grievous' bodyguards. Jaina and Kyp, with reluctance, gave up their lightsabers as well. The super battle droids clanked forwards and clamped their wrists together with electrobinders and attached a restraining bolt to R2-D2.

_Caught again,_ Jaina sighed. _Seems like my life rotates from one capture to another._

"Oh, Anakin," the voice of the older Jedi broke through her thoughts. He didn't sound annoyed, but his tone of voice suggested an upset resignation that she had heard her mother use many times before. "Where is your lightsaber?"

Jaina and Kyp glanced back at Anakin, who was determinedly ignoring looking at his companion. "It's not lost, if that's what you're thinking."

"No?" his friend asked with slight impatience.

"No," he replied calmly.

"Where is it then?" the other pressed.

"Can we talk about this later?" Anakin asked crossly.

"Without your lightsaber, you may not _have_ a 'later,'" his friend lectured irately.

"I don't need a lecture, okay?" Anakin snapped. "How many times have we had this talk?"

Jaina suppressed a laugh.

"Apparently, one time less than we needed to," his friend replied wearily.

Anakin looked hurt as he sighed and nodded towards Grievous' bodyguards. "He's got it," he said sullenly.

"He does?" the other Jedi exclaimed. "And how did this happen?"

"I don't want to talk about it." He threw a meaningful glance at Kyp and Jaina.

"Anakin—"

"Hey, he's got yours, too!" Anakin said heatedly.

"That's different—"

"This weapon is your _life_, Obi-Wan!" Anakin harangued furiously, mimicking his friend's voice.

Jaina smothered a laugh – her grandfather's sense of sarcastic humour belonged with her family. She looked at his companion and shivered at the strange feeling of shock mixed with utter fascination inside her… now she knew who his friend was, she could understand their discussion. She had known that Obi-Wan Kenobi was Anakin Skywalker's mentor.

Obi-Wan… the legendary Jedi Master, her Uncle Luke's own mentor who sacrificed himself on the Death Star for her parents and her uncle's escape. This was him – a younger version. She was shocked and bemused; here, standing beside her, where the two most famous and important Jedi of the Old Republic! It was unimaginable.

"You must take _care_ of it!"

Anakin's impression of Obi-Wan's voice nearly caused her to choke on her own spit as she tried desperately not to laugh.

She was sure that Obi-Wan had noticed.

The droids began to lead them away.

"Perhaps," Obi-Wan suggested calmly to Anakin, "we should talk about this later."

"Without your _lightsaber,_" Anakin continued severely, still mimicking his mentor's voice, "you may not _have_ a –"

Jaina finally burst and let out a loud snort of laughter.

Obi-Wan and Anakin stared at her.

"Yes?" Anakin said.

She grinned. "Sorry, I –" she trailed off, shaking her head. "Sorry."

Kyp sighed and grinned at Jaina.


	7. Unfinished Business

**CHAPTER VII**

**Unfinished Business**

Jaina silently harangued herself about their capture as they were marched down the wide corridors of the _Invisible Hand_. They had wasted their energy; they were going back to the palm of Grievous' metallic hand, instead of escaping it; they were, once again, in a sticky mess. And what a sticky mess it was this time. 

The only light shed on the entire episode was that they had found Anakin Skywalker – alive, breathing normally, with not suit, no Darth Vader persona and no dark side. Other than that, Jaina and Kyp were failing miserably at their mission.

When they entered the bridge, General Grievous swooped down upon them. Jaina glared up at him defiantly.

"Ah," Grievous said mildly, "our stray Jedi have been found." His head turned abruptly towards Obi-Wan. "Oh yes… General Kenobi. The Negotiator. I have been waiting for you. That wasn't much of a rescue."

Obi-Wan hid a small smile. "It depends on your point of view."

"And Anakin Skywalker," Grievous sneered. "I was expecting someone with your reputation to be a little… _older."_

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "General Grievous," he addressed the bio-droid, "Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies. You're _shorter_ than I expected."

Grievous hissed. "Jedi scum --!" 

"Anakin, try not to upset him," Obi-Wan told his friend. "We've got a job to do."

Ignoring this last comment, Grievous turned to Kyp and Jaina.

"It seems that we may finish our little battle sooner than later," he said silkily.

"We were merely taking a short break," Kyp replied sarcastically. 

"Indeed," Grievous responded silkily, "and yet you cut your 'break' short by running into my ray shield."

"Just a small inconvenience. We were attempting to pick up these three," Kyp lied smoothly.

"Sir," one of Grievous' personal bodyguards interrupted, handing over the captured lightsabers. 

Grievous took them hungrily. He attached Jaina and Kyp's to his belt and unclipped one that hadn't been there before the last time Jaina and Kyp had seen him.

Jaina recognized it immediately. She had heard the stories about it and had seen it hang from Aunt Mara's belt. She would know it anywhere.

It was Uncle Luke's first lightsaber. The lightsaber Obi-Wan Kenobi had given her uncle in his hut on Tatooine; the lightsaber Luke had begun his training with; the weapon Luke had used when fighting Darth Vader in Cloud City; the saber Luke had presented to Mara; the weapon that was a relic of the Old Republic – Luke's father's lightsaber. _Anakin Skywalker's_ lightsaber.

She shifted uncomfortably as she thought about that particular lightsaber. It was as much of her past as it was Anakin and Obi-Wan's. She had touched that lightsaber before; she had felt the metal of the elegantly constructed handle against her skin. But that was in another time, another place. Her past – _their_ future.

_Not anymore,_ she reminded herself. _Not if I can help it._ She wouldn't fail – her past would never happen. It would be wiped clean from the Galaxy, only to be remembered in her and Kyp's memories.

Grievous was examining the lightsaber with a certain amount of glee. He weighed them in his hands, getting a feeling for them, admiring their elegance.

"Rare trophies, these," he said, "the weapons of Anakin Skywalker and General Kenobi. I look forward to adding them to my collection." His yellow eyes gleamed with savage mirth.

"That will not happen," Obi-Wan interrupted quietly. "I am in control here."

Jaina turned and looked at him, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She had always known from the stories that Obi-Wan Kenobi (or Ben as her uncle called him), while composed, was very brave. She could feel his cool calmness through the Force. He was with the Force and the Force was with him. Indeed, he _was_ in control.

She immediately felt better as she turned back to their menacing opponent, who was stalking forwards, all traces of delight gone from his eyes.

"So confident you are, Kenobi," he observed, the threat in his voice unveiled.

"Not confident, merely calm," Obi-Wan replied mildly. "We can resolve this situation without further violence. I am willing to accept your surrender."

Jaina hurriedly covered a snort. Though she had heard all the stories about the great, the wise and the powerful Master Kenobi, she still couldn't believe that he was trying to negotiate with Grievous when the general was just as unwilling to accept negotiations as the Yuuzhan Vong.

She shuddered as she remembered what had happened to Elegos.

"I'm sure you are," Grievous nodded. "Does this preposterous _I-will-accept-your-surrender_ line of yours ever actually _work?"_

With someone like Grievous on the receiving end, Jaina supposed not. 

"Sometimes," Obi-Wan replied blandly. "When it doesn't, people get hurt. Sometimes they die," he added pointedly. "By _people_, you should understand that I mean _you."_

Jaina tensed; ready to react to Grievous' response – which she predicted to be an attempt to slaughter them all.

Through the Force, she felt the three other Jedi silently preparing for action. None of them were so thoroughly connected to the Force as Obi-Wan. Funnily enough, she couldn't sense anything from Palpatine but a tinge surprise and a deeper, darker calculating coolness.

"I understand enough," Grievous was saying, his voice hardly anything more than a growl. "I understand that I will kill you. Here. Now. With your own blade." He threw his cloak out of the way and raised the lightsabers, igniting the twin blades of energized blue power. 

The ghost of a smile played across Obi-Wan's lips. "I don't think so. " His casual reply was followed by an equally casual request – "Artoo?"

A barrage of white-hot sparks flew into the air, narrowly missing Jaina. At the same time, as Grievous stumbled out of the way of the burning sparks, the general's fingers opened and the lightsabers tumbled towards the ground. Immediately, they were sucked by something invisible towards Anakin and Obi-Wan, who caught them deftly.

He was a smart man, Jaina admitted. It seemed that Obi-Wan had saved that trick just for the moment.

Jaina whirled and reached out with the Force, alongside Kyp. Two lightsabers flung themselves from Grievous' belt and fell into their respective owner's hands as Anakin and Obi-Wan's blades cracked into existence.

"I believe you kill Jedi for sport," Kyp said sarcastically. "Did you want to continue our duel, General? We can improvise and add Anakin and Obi-Wan into the mix."

Grievous growled, his eyes flat. 

"Or you could reconsider my offer," Obi-Wan added, his voice emotionless.

Grievous duranium grip had locked around the control console. He drew himself up to his full height, glowering menacingly, towering over them all.

"I have no time for Sith impersonators or Jedi negotiators!" his voice boomed. "This is _my_ answer!"

The towering, angry bio-droid tore the console away from the floor and threw it viciously at the Jedi. Anakin and Obi-Wan dove out of harm's way as Jaina ducked and threw herself sideways. Kyp calmly sidestepped the console as it came crashing down on the deck. The bridge was filled with a cloud of smoke and flying sparks.

"Open fire!" Grievous' voice bellowed from behind a veil of smoke. "Kill them all!"

Jaina threw herself back up on her feet and raised her saber. The first bolt of Grievous' commanded firestorm ricocheted off her blue-violet blade and plunged into the wall. Wielding her blade expertly, she parried the blaster bolts and flipped through the air to land beside the droids firing at her.

The four Jedi had immediately come to a silent agreement as soon as Jaina had landed: she would keep the battle droids off their backs while Anakin, Obi-Wan and Kyp dealt Grievous.

It was more easily decided upon than done. Grievous' bodyguards were immediately between the general and the Jedi, wielding some type of staff Jaina could not recognize -- they glowed purple and crackled at the ends. Anakin and Obi-Wan parted as each took on the massive bodyguards and Kyp dove forwards to tackle Grievous.

R2-D2 rolled forwards, electronic beeps bubbling out from inside his dome. As Jaina sliced a battle droid in two, the astromech released a cable that twisted itself around the legs of a super battle droid aiming its arm blasters at Jaina's unprotected back. R2 jerked the cable and the droid toppled over. Beeping with amusement, the little astromech controlled the disabled droid so its arm cannons fired at and destroyed its fellow battle droids.

Jaina sent an approving grin at the astromech. "Thanks, R2!"

Across the bridge, Obi-Wan ducked the bolts from a super battle droid which effectively blasted one of the bodyguards backwards his followed up by parrying the energy-encased electrostaff and with a quick, sharp blow he dismantled the bodyguard. The staff rolled away.

Kyp slashed at Grievous with his lightsaber. The general leaped aside and picked up the fallen electrostaff. He flicked the control switch to full power and blocked Kyp's next blow.

"Round two," he snarled.

"Try me."

Obi-Wan ran quickly towards the last bodyguard as Anakin disengaged his fight with the other to pursue and attack the droids who had found Palpatine and were dragging him back. The droids fell victim to Anakin's lightsaber and all that remained of them were scraps of metal burning slightly at the edges. Obi-Wan's opponent soon met the same fate just as a Neimodian officer's panicked voice shrieked something about the ship deorbiting. He was barely heard, as his voice was lost in the chaos that had erupted on the bridge.

Jaina whirled to see Obi-Wan and Anakin fighting side-by-side, shielding a shocked Palpatine from harm as eight destroyers rolled out and opened fire. Though Jaina could not bare the fact that she was defending her worst enemy, an interesting idea was coming to mind. An idea with interesting results. The fire in her chest had been ignited. Now, if only she could make it work.

Kyp ducked a well-aimed blow from Grievous' staff and slammed his saber against the weapon, breathing heavily. Sweat dripped into his eyes and slid down his nose but before Grievous could whirl his staff at him the ship jerked and they found themselves floating upwards at an alarming rate. People, droids, scrap metal, and anything unattached drifted towards the ceiling and bobbed around with no control over where they were going. 

He risked a quick look around – the new arrivals had opened fire at his three fellow Jedi, who were calmly deflecting the blaster bolts while floating in mid-air as if this were an ordinary day at work.

Kyp raised his lightsaber quickly as Grievous attempted to whack him with the electrostaff, but he missed as they were floating away from each other towards opposite ends of the bridge. 

As suddenly as the first gravity shear had come, a second rolled by and they all dropped in a tangled puddle of arms-legs and metal to the floor. While the Jedi landed calmly upright and Palpatine landed in a jumbled mass of robes and arms and legs, the droidekas _bounced._ They bounced off the walls, the ceiling, and the floors, slowing draining their shield generators until there was nothing left to protect them. Soon enough eight new piled of blackened metal joined the rest of the scrap that littered the floor.

"Looks like you're out of allies, Grievous," Anakin said smoothly, walking towards the bio-general. "You won't be getting out of this now." 

Grievous looked around impatiently. There he was, cornered by four Jedi, two he knew by their reputation and two mysterious ones who completely baffled him by their cold and sarcastic outlook towards the battle, as well as their lack of knowledge of all things… recent.

For the briefest moment, he panicked. For the first time in his life, he sensed fear.

But General Grievous would not allow himself to be overcome by fear. Snarling ferally, he gripped the electrostaff firmly in his hands and switched the power setting to overload. Through a fine, hazy mist of sparks and crackling purple-white energy, Grievous' bone-like mask and burning yellow eyes bore down on them. He had a way out of this one – he just hoped that Darth Sidious would forgive him for killing Palpatine. Grievous wouldn't be thwarted by a group of reckless Jedi.

"I am sorry I don't have time to continue our battle, Jedi," he spat at Kyp, who merely smiled sarcastically back. "It would have been an interesting match to fight all four of you," he added to the others, "but I have an appointment with an escape pod." He activated his cable-gun and a long cable shot out. Its grappling claw plunged deep into the wall. "You," he continued coldly, "have appointments with death."

The Jedi leapt forwards, Kyp, Obi-Wan and Jaina closing in from the sides and Anakin from the front. Grievous dodged their flaming sabers and hurled his crackling electrostaff at the window.

A split second before it made impact, Kyp saw what he was going to do and knew that Grievous had made his final mistake by sending out his cable too soon. With a quick flip, he managed to intercept the staff before it reached the window. The Force called it into his hand and he quickly shut it down and snapped it in two with his lightsaber. 

Grievous, towering over him, stalked towards the Jedi Master. 

"So be it," he snarled. "I'll fight as you do. Count Dooku taught me to fight the Jedi way. He told me the secrets of his art."

"You'll find that we have more tricks up our sleeves than you do," Jaina called.

Grievous whirled around and looked at her, snarling madly. Without a sound, his arms split in two, creating four hands. Four _powerful_ hands. Four hands capable of pounding out their brains if he got hold of them. Those four hands darted towards his belt and simultaneously unclipped four of the lightsabers hanging there. In one swift motion, he ignited them and was suddenly illuminated by the glow of the green and blue lightsabers he held in his hands.

Jaina stared at the mechanical menace, momentarily shocked. Her mind flashed angrily as she cursed the person, whoever he was, who had made Grievous. 

Her surprise nearly proved fatal. With a loud hissing noise, Grievous lunged forwards, his arms turning so quickly that they and the lightsaber in his hands appeared to be one large blur. She saw the disaster coming and she didn't move – she was so shocked at this _droid's_ keenness for battle and his inhumane ways. He was a killing machine. 

"JAINA!"


	8. Fight and Flight

**CHAPTER VIII**

**Fight and Flight**

It was a gravity shear that saved her. It forced them bobbing upward towards the ceiling and Grievous and his whirling sabers floated away from her. Breathing heavily in relief and shock at such a careless, close call, Jaina thrust her saber away from her as her body began to turn upside down. Quite suddenly, everything was upside down and Anakin was knocking gently against her as they floated peacefully around the bridge – a break in the storm.

She and Anakin where staring at each other – she was amazed how much Uncle Luke resembled his father. They had exactly the same eyes. As she thought about this comparison, Anakin's quietly murmured, his voice filled with surprise and confusion, three words that made no sense to Jaina at all.

"You look like –"

His last word was lost in a storm of sound as they dropped and crashed heavily onto the floor – Grievous' metal body went sprawling and one of his lightsaber cut through his arm, leaving him with three arms instead of four. As Jaina fell, she quickly deactivated her lightsaber to avoid any unpleasant self-inflicted wounds; Kyp slammed into the wall and slid down it, but was soon up on his feet and running towards Grievous, his crimson blade hissing. Anakin gracefully flipped around and landed upright on his feet and Obi-Wan tumbled down onto a console. A shaken and bruised Palpatine lay crumpled on the floor. 

Grievous was back on his feet before any of them and was ready to meet the four sabers as the Jedi charged at him again. It became a circling game – round and round they fought, each Jedi parrying a different arm each time; sabers flashed, spraying sparks into their faces, colours flowing brightly, encasing the duelling give in a warm cloak of green, blue, purple and red.

The circling became faster and faster until it seemed impossible that any of them would be able to strike their enemy. It would be the first person to tire and drop their guard for even a fraction of a second who would die. Unfortunately, that meant that Grievous had the advantage.

There was no time to talk or even think about anything else except the battle in front of them. As they circled, they hardly realized that they were moving closer and closer to Palpatine, who scrambled backwards to avoid them.

Jaina liked him where he was – the closer they got to him, the closer they were to the Sith Lord' accidental death.

She had forgotten that Anakin was the one who had to kill Palpatine, that Palpatine would never suffer an "accidental" death, that he was excellent at escaping his fate. All of that had been consumed by her battle with Grievous and her efforts to cause Palpatine's death. A firestorm lived inside her, forever thumping her heart, making her attacks more ferocious, more violent…

Her saber came crashing down, slicing through the console next to which Palpatine was trying to hide. Her violet blade came within inches of her worst enemy. The most damage it did was spit sparks in his face and give her the briefest chance to look Palpatine in the eye – his expression was blank, but under it she could sense a tinge of curiosity and a dark, deeper thought.

Whirling abruptly, her saber flashed into the chaos just in time to save Obi-Wan from losing one of his arms.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jaina saw Kyp breaking away from the rest of them. She saw him step back, contemplating the cable that Grievous was still attached to. She frowned as she glanced briefly at the cable and, as she parried another blow, saw in Kyp's expression exactly what he was going to attempt.

Kyp acted quickly. There was a lightsaber lying on the floor next to the remains of one of Grievous' durasteel hands. Kyp called out to a lightsaber with the Force and it flew into his grasp. Igniting and locking the blade, he turned and hurled it with all his might at the crack in the transparisteel panel that Grievous had aimed his electrostaff at. The saber ploughed its way through the metal and the panel shattered.

The gale that resulted tore at the Jedi's bodies as they fought to avoid being sucked out into vacuum. Palpatine had managed to catch hold of the broken console and held on for dear life as pieces of blackened scrap metal, Neimodian bodies and broken pieces that had snapped off the walls during the duel whirled out into space. Grievous flew by them, attached by the cord, unable to catch hold of anything, and he sailed out the window. Kyp, fighting heavily against his own hurricane, lifted his lightsaber and snapped the cable in two.

_TWANG!_

Grievous let out a horrible yell as he tumbled towards the atmosphere of the planet below. Several seconds into his fall, he was caught between a net of sizzling plasma beams and was neatly disintegrated into a fiery array of blazing sparks.

Anakin thrust out a hand and pushed a button on the wall – the blast shield snapped closed and the windstorm died.

A quiet second of silence passed through the bridge as the five humans looked around at each other. Mixed emotions passed from on to another; from Kyp's satisfaction, Anakin's bewilderment, Obi-Wan's calculating look, Jaina's fiery anger (directed solely at Palpatine) and the Chancellor's polite and outward look of confusion and thankfulness.

The silence was broken when Jaina and Anakin rushed to look at the console readout. All in the room could tell from the steady stream of sparks flying by the windows and from the emergency alarm systems going off that they – and the ship – where in deep trouble. 

"There are three escape pods left on the ship," Anakin informed them.

Jaina looked closer at the readout. "No good," she said quickly. "They're at the opposite side of the ship. We'd never make it to them if the ship's deteriorating." 

Anakin turned to object but Obi-Wan cut across him.

"She's right, Anakin. Our best hope is to land the ship. Can you fly this thing?"

Anakin looked at the controls and smiled shakily. "Flying's no problem," he said with a slightly amused tone to his voice. "The trick is _landing."_ He was already busily unsnapping the pilot's crash webbing and strapping himself in, after dumping of the Neimodian pilot's body on the floor.

"Move, Anakin," Jaina ordered suddenly. "I can fly it."

Anakin's head turned and he stared at her. He looked outraged. "How –"

"If I can fly a stolen Yuuzhan Vong ship then I can definitely fly this thing," Jaina snapped. "Now move."

Anakin stared blankly at her, as did Obi-Wan. Palpatine eyed her suspiciously, shifting his weight slightly.

Jaina realized her mistake too late. "Um…" she began.

"Who are you?" Anakin demanded hotly.

"Hey, flyboy," Jaina retorted, equally vehement, "we're in a bit of a situation here. Let's get out of this now and leave questions for later." She glared at him, the fire that had been in her chest during the battle creeping into her eyes.

There was a horrible wrenching sound that echoed through the bridge. The Jedi and Palpatine froze.

"I think the ship's breaking up," Anakin said quietly.

"No kidding," Jaina breathed.

"The question is," Anakin said to her, "can _you_ fly half a ship?"

"Try me," she said with a small grin. 

He shook his head. "Under the circumstances, I think I have a better chance." He reached for the controls on the console. "Strap in."

They did as they were told. Jaina sighed as she realized that her crash webbing was torn – not much good it could do. Then she shot a furious look at Kyp – he knew that she wanted to take control of the ship. There was usually nothing that stood between Jaina and flying and she was just itching to fly this ship.

As the ship angled towards the atmosphere, it jerked and bounced. A blaring alarm went off, joining the other alarms' loud, clanging and buzzing chorus.

Jaina glared angrily at Anakin.

"What did you _do?"_ she yelled.

"That wasn't me!" he shouted back, jerking his hands away as she aimed a slap at them. "I haven't even _done_ anything yet!"

"It seems that someone is shooting at us," Palpatine interrupted calmly from behind them.

Jaina snorted. "Typical."

"Perhaps we could talk with them?" Obi-Wan suggested. "Let them know we've taken the ship."

The ship jerked again as he said this.

Anakin passed him the comm. "All right."

The ship's engines began to whine as Obi-Wan made contact with the ship firing at them. There was too much commotion to concentrate on his words, but the Jedi Master told them that he had ordered a squad of fireships to accompany them as they made their landing.

It was now apparent that Anakin Skywalker was _really_ the excellent pilot that the stories had said he was. He was flying an alien ship, designed for aliens alone, with no intent but to land the massive hulk that was quickly catching fire.

"Steady!" Obi-Wan called while glancing at the readout flashing on the console's screen. "Altitude… eighteen degrees."

R2-D2 beeped loudly.

Anakin acknowledged the droid. "Pressure rising. We've got to slow this wreck down... Open all hatches, extend all flaps and drag fins!"

Jaina lunged at the controls, quickly doing as Anakin ordered. "All set."

There was a sound that was horribly like something breaking away with a loud _crunch_ and a r_ip_. They all glanced out the window just in time to see stray pieces of metal fly by.

"I think we just lost the end of the ship," Kyp commented.

"Not to worry," Obi-Wan said quickly, "we are still flying _h__alf_ a ship."

"Anakin!" Jaina called angrily to the distracted pilot. "We're picking up speed, turn several degrees to slow us down or we'll burn!"

"I know what to do!" he yelled back, flipping a few controls.

"Eight plus sixty-forty," Obi-Wan counted. "Eight plus sixty-twenty. Eight plus sixty. Temp ten thousand, nine thousand -- we're in the atmosphere!"

R2 was beeping wildly.

"Artoo, grab that!" Anakin yelled, pointing with one finger at a control. The droid rolled forwards and obliged.

"Steady!" Obi-Wan called.

"This is going to get rough," Anakin said, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. "We lost our heat shields." 

"Five thousand… three thousand… two thousand – fire ships on the left!"

The comm crackled as a fireship pilot's voice filtered through it. "We'll take you in."

"Copy that!" Obi-Wan said. "Landing strip's straight ahead." 

"We're coming in too hot!"

"Easy!"

With a loud crash, bang and a thump, the ship slammed into the landing strip. Jaina's broken crash webbing snapped and she was thrown forwards and crashed into the controls. She grunted in pain, her breath knocked out of her. Anakin sighed in relief and wiped the sweat that had broken out on his forehead.

Obi-Wan smiled. "Another happy landing."

Jaina turned and raised an eyebrow. "Happy… landing?" she mouthed. Breathing deeply, she looked at Anakin. "You… should have let me… fly it!"

Kyp tapped her shoulder and drew her back from the console. Jaina closed her eyes and squeezed his arm.

_At least we're alive,_ he sent. _You'll get your chance to fly alien ships._

She looked up at him and snorted. Glancing around at the others and shrugged.

"Are we going to leave this wreck or did you plan on setting up residence here?"


	9. The Coruscant of the Past

**CHAPTER IX**

**The Coruscant of the Past**

White fire-suppression foam poured down on what remained of the _Invisible Hand._ As soon as Jaina's last comment had left her lips, the small group had wasted no time in finding a way out of the slowly-burning hulk.

Though the fast-paced battle with Grievous was over and they were out of enemy territory, Jaina was still nervous. She had no idea and no training of how to cope with it. Nothing in her twenty-two years had prepared her for this. As she, the Jedi and Chancellor Palpatine made their way through the burnt halls, the solid, unrelenting truth of the matter that had been so easily dismissed by the adrenaline of battle came crashing back down on her.

She shuddered inwardly at the reality of it. Here she was, stuck in another time, with the three people who were legends in her own time -- in her past. She was suddenly no longer Jaina Solo, squadron leader and Jedi Knight of the New Republic. She was swept up in the movements of time and for all she new, her and Kyp's presence here could very well keep the New Republic from ever forming.

If that wasn't disconcerting enough, even more alarming was the fact that her biological _grandfather_ was around the same age as her. The unnaturalness of it unnerved her. It was the calm presence of Kyp that kept Jaina from becoming completely disorientated by such a surreal event.

He was her one attachment to a past that would no longer exist. Whatever they did here would ultimately change the course of what the Galaxy had become in her past. The presence and support of one of her friends would keep that now-impossible past from disappearing.

Time travel, Jaina decided, was something that she would never care to experience again. It wasn't the immediate side effects that were the problem, but the way that the notion played tricks on one's mind. It was a concept that was too immense for her to entirely comprehend.

She then realized just how possible it was to be born in one age and die in the one that came before.

Jaina choked on that thought and stopped walking. She clutched at the wall with one hand, her thoughts whirling – never before had she considered something other than tactics with such detail. It was entirely baffling and it was making her sick.

Jaina's problem was that she had known about the possibilities time travel could catapult one into. She had never paused to consider what the reality of experiencing it would do to her. To discuss the possibilities and theories of time travel was one thing, but to actually do it… it was something else. It was something enormous to tackle once one lived in a different time.

The Jedi and Palpatine continued through the wreckage until they came to the closest escape pod hatch. As soon as it opened, emergency crews swarmed through, helping them climb out and on to the hard pavement of the platform that Anakin had brought the ruined ship down on.

Jaina shivered when she saw them. The soldiers that had climbed through the hatch as part of the rescue team as well as the ones on the platform were wearing heavy armour and helmets that concealed their faces entirely.

Stormtroopers.

But… if she remembered her history, they couldn't be stormtroopers. The stormtroopers had come with the Empire, and that obviously wasn't here yet because Obi-Wan was not an outcast Jedi.

She noticed how the armoured soldiers were all the same height, walked in exactly the same fashion… They were identical in every way, except for the different colour combinations on their helmets.

A thought popped into her head that matched with her history lesson – clones.

The Clone Wars.

The troopers were clones.

She swallowed hard.

Jaina forced any time travel thoughts out of her head and looked around. The sun was beaming down on the pavement, washing the area with light. Palpatine was leaning on Anakin's shoulder, looking a little worse for wear. He gave the distinct impression of a frail politician who was completely shocked by the day's activities.

_Liar_, Jaina thought. It was all for show – and the show was intended to lie and deceive everyone, politicians, citizens, soldiers, and especially, Jedi.

She thought she was slowly beginning to understand the way the devious Sith Lord's mind worked.

Obi-Wan was discussing something quietly with Kyp. Jaina noticed that her friend was looking a little uncomfortable – he was undoubtedly trying to find responses for those awkward questions that they would eventually have to answer.

Keeping a firm control over her feelings, Jaina looked around. Coruscant looked almost the same as it had when she had last lived here. Of course, that had been another time, but it was refreshing to see the place un-Vongified. She tried not to think about what had happened to Jacen at the hands of Vergere –

Vergere.

Her thoughts paused. She wondered, with a certain amount of mixed emotion, whether Vergere was here, right now, somewhere near by…

Their small group had gathered around her. Palpatine was talking to them and jolted Jaina out of her whirling thoughts.

"I must thank you," he was saying with dignity, sounding exactly like the politician he was. "If it weren't for your timely arrival, Master Jedi, Count Dooku would have ensured that my situation onboard the _Invisible Hand _ended differently."

"We did what we could do," Obi-Wan said modestly. "Of course, you must thank Anakin, as it was he who finished off Dooku."

There was a hint of a grim smile on Palpatine's lips. Jaina's eyes narrowed; there was something going on in the Chancellor's mind that, she could tell without any doubt, had to do with her. She shivered – with Palpatine, it could hardly be something pleasant.

The Chancellor turned to Kyp and Jaina. "And, of course, without your help Grievous would still be a threat to the Republic."

Both Jaina and Kyp acknowledged this with cold looks. They did have, after all, a very different opinion of and experience with Palpatine than Anakin and Obi-Wan. Jaina noticed, with some uneasiness, a small glint in the Chancellor's eyes. She shifted uncomfortably. The idea, whatever it was, must be forming rapidly.

"I believe that I don't know your names," he said politely. "It would be a pleasure to know who exactly helped in my rescue."

"Kyp Durron."

"Jaina Solo."

Jaina was glad that no problems occurred with their names. She remembered her father's argument with her aunt and uncle about time travel… If anyone else in her family had come, even without the paradox issue things would have become quite complicated.

The introductions ended there as a tall figure came striding towards them from a small gunship. He was dressed in the long, brown, swirling robes of a Jedi Master. The expression on his brown face was grim.

"Chancellor," the Jedi Master called, his voice reflecting his grim expression, as he approached. "Do you need medical attention? I have a fully equipped field surgery –"

"No, no need," Palpatine replied faintly, still leaning heavily on Anakin. "Thank you, Master Windu, but I am well. Quite well, thanks to these four."

Master Windu surveyed the Jedi team and his eyes narrowed quizzically when he saw Kyp and Jaina. Jaina glanced at her companion – story time had come. They would have to explain somehow who they were. She and Kyp would have to work out a plausible alibi to hide behind. They obviously couldn't give away their real situation.

Windu's eyes gave the two time travelers a long, hard look and turned to Anakin and Obi-Wan.

"Master Kenobi? Anakin?" he asked, obviously referring to their well-being.

"Never better," Anakin replied.

"Only a bump on the head," Obi-Wan said, gingerly touching a scalp wound that must have occurred sometime when the gravity shears had passed through the breaking ship. "That field surgery must be needed elsewhere."

"It is," Master Windu answered grimly. Jaina knew that tone – the injured rate must be high. "We don't have even a preliminary estimate of civilian casualties," he added. He paused. "A shuttle is on its way, Chancellor. We'll have you on the Senate floor within the hour. The HoloNet has already been notified that you will want to make a statement."

"I will," Palpatine said calmly, "I will indeed." He smiled appreciatingly. "You have always been of great value to me, Master Windu. Thank you."

"The Jedi are honoured to serve the Senate, sir," Windu replied stiffly.

Jaina noticed the way that Master Windu said _Senate –_ evidently, the Senate must have involved itself frequently with the Jedi. She thought she could understand the Master's frustration with politics – she remembered all to well the problems the New Republic government had during the Vong War.

"Is there anything else to report, Master Kenobi?" Master Windu asked. "What of General Grievous?"

Obi-Wan smiled slightly. "Now there's something interestingly. We _did_ meet him – and as our luck would have it, these two Jedi that were on board the _Invisible Hand_ long before we got there disposed of them quite neatly."

"I had nothing more to do with Grievous death than you," Jaina said, her tone frosty at the mention of the mechanical monster. "It was Kyp who killed him, if the bump on your head will let you remember correctly."

Master Windu was taken aback. He turned suspiciously to Kyp. "Dead? You killed Grievous?"

"It was mere chance, really," Kyp explained. "To put it simply, Grievous was planning to break the windows on the bridge and have us all washed out into vacuum. To prevent himself from going with us, he lodged his cable into the wall. I broke the window prematurely and snapped his cable. He was vaporized almost instantly after he was blown out the window."

Windu nodded, a look of astonishment. "This is very good news. Maybe this war will finally end now that the Separatists have lost their leader. What of Count Dooku?"

"Count Dooku was also on board," Obi-Wan said.

"And? Did he escape?"

"He's dead," Anakin said shortly.

Windu's eyed widened and he looked between Obi-Wan, Anakin, Jaina and Kyp. _"Dead?_ You killed _C__ount Dooku?"_

Jaina shook her head. "No, Kyp and I didn't."

"It was Anakin who killed the Count," Obi-Wan said as he indicated his scalp-wound and smiled. "I was… taking a nap."

"But…" The Jedi Master seemed speechless. Another but escaped him. This was an enormous shock to him. Jaina could see why – the two main leaders of their enemy were dead in the same day. "Anakin, how did you _do_ it?"

Anakin shifted his weight, looking incredibly uncomfortable. His eyes flickered towards Palpatine and his lips pursed. He didn't answer the question.

Jaina had the impression that Anakin was hiding something dark that he definitely did not want to share with anyone.

"It was… entirely extraordinary," Palpatine said slowly.

Windu's eyes narrowed.

"I know next to nothing of swordplay, of course," the Chancellor continued blandly. "To my amateur's eye, it seemed that Count Dooku may have been… a trace overconfident. Especially after having disposed of Master Kenobi so neatly."

As Obi-Wan flushed scarlet and Anakin's cheeks turned a deep shade, Jaina thought that there was much more to the story than what Palpatine was recounting.

"Perhaps young Anakin was simply more… highly _motivated,_" Palpatine continued, smiling fondly at the young Jedi Knight.

Jaina's eyes narrowed. The bond between the Chancellor and Anakin was evidently strong. It was one that she and Kyp were going to have to sever if they were ever going to succeed.

And it wouldn't be easy.

"After all," Palpatine explained, "Dooku was fighting only to slay an enemy; Anakin was fighting to save – if I may presume the honour – a friend."

Jaina's expression darkened, even as Master Windu's did. This was not a good sign – not even with two lightsabers hacking at the bond between Anakin and Palpatine was it going to dissolve; they were going to need extra help. And she thought she knew where that was going to be found.

"I'm sure the Council will be very interested in your _full_ report, Anakin," Master Windu said.

Anakin bowed his head. "Yes, of course, Master Windu."

"And the Council would also be interested in your report on Grievous' death, Jedi…?"

"Durron," Kyp supplied.

Now was obviously not the time to correct Master Windu by telling him Kyp's actual position of Jedi Master.

"This is our time to regain peace," Windu said. "With the loss of both their strategic and military leaders, the Separatists will be in complete disarray. It will not be long before we can end this war."

"However, we can never underestimate the deviousness of the Separatists," Palpatine said. "Even without a leader, they will prove to be harder to stop than you presume."

Windu's eyes flashed at this.

They were interrupted at this point as the Chancellor's shuttle zoomed its way towards them and came to a halt, hovering on its repulsorlifts several feet above the platform.

After they had climbed aboard, Jaina couldn't help feeling that the shuttle was taking her off to some new and greater destiny. However, that feeling was also accompanied by the sense of dread. The time travelers' explanations of their presence were due sometime soon and she was not looking forward to them whatsoever.


	10. Of Senators and Jedi

**CHAPTER X**

**Of Senators and Jedi**

The shuttle flew low as it prepared to halt at Palpatine's private landing platform at the Senate Offices. Gathered on the platform and waiting impatiently was a small group of senators. Jaina wondered briefly if all of them supported Palpatine in his position as Chancellor.

Across the shuttle from her, Anakin looked as though he was trying desperately to conceal the fact that he was looking frantically at the crowd every few seconds. He was clearly trying to find someone. Jaina wondered who that someone was, but prudently decided against asking him. There was no point in bringing up her grandfather's edginess as the shuttle approached the platform.

When the shuttle came to a halt, Anakin quickly debarked along with R2-D2 and Palpatine. Master Windu glanced at Obi-Wan – the other Master nodded and did not follow his friend. Jaina exchanged looks with Kyp and they both stood up.

"No," Master Windu said sternly. "Sit. You will be staying here."

Jaina scowled, but sat down. She folded her arms across her chest. As she did so, Anakin and Obi-Wan's voices floated up from where they stood on the landing platform.

"You coming?" Anakin was asking.

"I haven't the courage for politics," Obi-Wan replied wryly. "I'll brief the council."

"Shouldn't I be there too?"

"No need," Obi-Wan answered. "This isn't a formal report. Besides, someone needs to be the Poster boy."

There was a brief pause. "Poster _man."_ Anakin corrected, his voice irritated.

"Quite right," Obi-Wan chuckled. "Go meet your public, Poster Man."

Jaina smiled, hiding a laugh; her grandfather had seemed genuinely annoyed at being called poster boy.

"Wait a minute," Anakin said quickly. "This whole operation was _your_ idea. You planned it. You led the rescue. It's your turn to take the bows."

"You won't get out of it that easily, my young friend," Obi-Wan told him. "Without you, I wouldn't even have made it to the flagship. You killed Count Dooku and single-handedly rescued the Chancellor, all the while, I might be forgiven for adding, carrying some old broken-down Jedi Master unconscious on your back. Not to mention making a landing that will be the standard of Impossible in every flight manual for the next thousand years."

Jaina choked at the thought – there Obi-Wan was wrong. She had never heard of Anakin's landing.

"Only because of your training Master –" Anakin began, trying to come up with a modest excuse, but Obi-Wan cut across him.

"That's just an excuse. You're the hero. Go spend your glory days surrounded by… politicians."

Jaina smothered a laugh; that sounded like both her mother – who _was_ a politician, after all – and her uncle.

"Come on Master – you _owe_ me," Anakin said curtly. "And not just for saving your skin for the tenth time," he added off-handedly.

"_Ninth_ time," Obi-Wan corrected swiftly. "That business on Cato Neimoidia doesn't count, it was your fault in the first place. See you at the Outer Rim briefing in the morning."

"Well…" Anakin sounded flustered. "All right. Just this once."

Jaina turned and glanced down at the platform, watching as Anakin walked quickly towards the crowd of senators waiting for him. Obi-Wan walked back on to the shuttle, nodding shortly at Master Windu. They turned and looked directly at Jaina and Kyp. The hatch closed and the shuttle lifted off.

They approached Jaina and Kyp, Mace Windu looking as if he was about to issue a death sentence.

"Solo and Durron," he said slowly, "we're taking you into custody. You are not obliged to say anything. Give us your weapons."

Jaina glanced at Kyp and, simultaneously, they handed over their lightsabers.

_Of course we wouldn't be accepted with open arms into the Jedi Order,_ Jaina thought as her only weapon was taken from her. Story time was about to begin.

* * *

Anakin paced and waited in the Atrium. He had spent the last thirty minutes smiling tensely and answering questions. Not long before, the group of Senators had slowly filtered out, leaving him alone.

He was worried.

Where was she? Why wasn't she here?

He could only be patient. She would come.

Unless…

He paced.

What if something had happened to her? What if she had been injured in the raid? What if she was lying in the medical centre, calling his name, dying?

Five months. He hadn't seen her in five, agonizing months. Something, _anything_ could have happened to her in that time.

As he wondered where she could be, an image of her came to his mind. He remembered her vividly – how could he not? Her face was wet with tears, her brown curls still damp from her shower. It had been the last day before he left for his mission. Even while crying, she was beautiful.

Yet, strangely, even as he remembered her, her face morphed into someone else's. Her features hardened into those of a warrior, her hair lost its curliness, her soft brown eyes turned into hard, fierce ones.

The woman looked like Padmé, but wasn't even close.

His mind was playing tricks on him. Padmé's face had become that of the strange Jedi who had been on the _Invisible Hand _-- Jaina Solo's.

The resemblance was striking. It unnerved him.

He heard the rustle of skirts as someone approached him. He turned around and immediately his face broke into a grin as Padmé threw her arms around his neck, her eyes leaking tears of joy, and kissed him.

Their kiss was long, deep and could not last long enough. Then she clung to him, speaking softly of her fears that he would not return and he gently reassured her that he would always be there for her.

Though even as he held his wife in a tight embrace, he couldn't help but feel troubled – the two strange Jedi… what had they been doing there on the _Invisible Hand?_ Were they even Jedi?

They couldn't be… he didn't recognize them.

"Anakin, what is it?"

He smiled gently and caressed her hair with one hand.

"Nothing," he murmured. "It's nothing."

"Anakin," she said reproachfully.

He glanced at her. "There were two Jedi on board the _Invisible Hand."_

She looked startled. "Prisoners?"

"They could have been, but I've never seen them before in my life."

"Then who were they?" she pressed.

"We don't know." A worried frown creased his forehead. "I suspect that Obi-Wan and Mace Windu are taking them into custody. They acted like Jedi, they knew how to wield lightsabers – for all we know, they could be Sith, but then again, instead of aiding Grievous, they killed him."

"They killed _Grievous?"_

Anakin nodded. "And what's more, one of them – she called herself Jaina Solo – she looked exactly like you."

Padmé smiled shortly. "I don't have any relatives with the last name Solo, if that's what you're thinking."

"Padmé –"

"Anakin, put it aside." She was using her politician voice. "We've got something more important to discuss."

"But if they're Sith –"

"The Council can deal with them. Trust me, Anakin." She was wearing a worried look. "You have to listen to me."

He looked at her, his hands in hers. "What is it?"

"I'm pregnant."

Her words, while soft, were not filled with the joy of a normal expectant mother – instead they were weighed down with worry – worry for him, worry for the child. Yet, still, there was joy there in her eyes – joy for the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her. If it hadn't been for their circumstances, he was positive that her face would be glowing with light.

Anakin thought about what she said. The words doubled over and hit him again. He thought he was going to tumble backwards in shock. Pregnant… he was going to be a father.

The fact that they were married was going to be discovered.

He was going to be expelled from the Jedi Order.

He found that he could care less.

He stepped backwards and surveyed his wife. He wet his lips, uncertain of what to say.

"That's… wonderful, Padmé!"

She shook her head and glanced away. "What are we going to do?"

She seemed nervous about the whole prospect.

"We're going to be happy, that's what we're going to do," Anakin told her firmly. "And we're going to be together. All three of us."

"But, Anakin, they'll find out! You'll be thrown out of the Order –"

He cut her off by placing a finger on her lips. "No. Not buts, Padmé. No worries. This is supposed to be a happy time for us. No more Grievous, no more Dooku – no more missions. The Separatists will fall apart in a matter of weeks. No worries. You worry too much as it is."

"I have to," she said softly. "Because you never worry at all."

He put his arm around her and looked off in the distance. Coruscant's lights glowed as dusk fell.

"I'm worried now," he said, but so quietly that his wife couldn't hear him.

* * *

"They were running from battle droids when we met them."

"It could have been part of a plan to convince you they were on your side."

"I realize that is possible, but what for? What would be the point?"

"To trick us into believing that they could not possibly be Sith. It could be a plot to destroy the Jedi Order."

"Master Windu, you yourself had traced the trail of the Sith Lord to the sub-basement of Five Hundred Republica when the raid occurred, do you think it possible that –"

"The trail could have been old."

"But –"

"Masters!" Yoda barked. "Argue we must not. A decision we must make and discuss about these strange Jedi, we will."

Obi-Wan stiffly leaned against his chair. After briefing the Council, he had told them about the mysterious Jedi on board the _Invisible Hand_ and then the argument between Master Windu and him had broken out.

"Who they are, where they come from and what they plan on doing here is unknown," Obi-Wan said slowly, not eager to begin the argument again, "but from their actions I sense that they are not Sith."

"The Sith are capable of cloaking their emotions _and_ their actions," Mace Windu countered. "Otherwise we would have found Sidious already."

"We are basing our judgements on the facts that one lightsaber is red and that we do not recognize them," Obi-Wan argued. "I hardly believe that that is enough evidence. The chances of them being Darth Sidious and his apprentice are slim, especially when we know that Count Dooku was his apprentice and there are only two Sith."

"Master and apprentice," Oppo Rancissis murmured. "As it has been for a long time."

"We are basing that knowledge only upon what Count Dooku had told us and I hardly consider his word trustworthy," Mace said darkly. "Is it possible that he has taken on another apprentice?"

"It is unlikely!" Obi-Wan said heatedly. "There have always been two, no more, no less. Dooku was killed on the _Invisible Hand_ and the Jedi were found there. Unless Sidious has taken on another apprentice, which I say is very unlikely, we cannot assume that they are Sith! The logic _doesn't fit_."

"Talk to Durron and Solo, we will," Yoda interrupted calmly. "Learn their past we must."

"They can't be Sith, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan said shortly. "It isn't possible."

"If they aren't Sith, then who are they?" Master Piell asked tensely. "Amateurs? Master Kenobi, you fought alongside them – what of their skills?"

Obi-Wan paused, raising a hand to his forehead. This was truly the most unusual event that had ever passed. They had no idea who they were, and yet these mysterious Force-users seemed as good as the Jedi themselves.

It was unconventional. He did not know what to make of them. Where they here to help the Jedi and the war? Or were they here to destroy them?

Or were they just an accident?

Time would tell.

Obi-Wan turned his thoughts back to the question at hand.

"They could not have been amateurs. The older one – Kyp Durron – he had as much control over the Force and as much understanding of it as any of us do. And Jaina Solo – there's no denying that she's a warrior. They have the skills, the knowledge of any Jedi and I could not sense any of the dark side around them."

There was a long silence.

"Dangerous they could be," Yoda murmured. "Strange their circumstances are. Talk to them, we will. Then judge them, we must."

Obi-Wan pursed his lips. For all it was worth, he believed they couldn't be Sith. But if they were neither Sith nor Jedi, then who could they be?

* * *

Jaina sat cross-legged in the small, dark room with her eyes closed. While it might appear to any other Jedi that she was meditating, she had actually locked herself into the Force-meld and was communicating with Kyp.

Now that their immediate crisis was over and she was relaxing, it became evident how silent the meld was compared to the many times she had used it before. They were now separated from the others who had once formed a part of it in unimaginable ways.

She had never felt more lost in her life. Everything around her was strange and new and everyone was different – the galaxy was different. She had suddenly been plunged into a world of clones, Separatists, Jedi Councils and evil cyborgs. No matter how many changes she had seen the galaxy go through from her childhood to her adult years, nothing could have prepared her for the stark contrasts she found here and the power placed in her hands to stop the other, terrible things from changing the galaxy.

She trembled with the thought. There were so many things to do and so many things that she didn't understand. How could she fight for the lives of everyone in the universe when she didn't even understand this galaxy? How could she stop Anakin when she couldn't even gain the trust of the Jedi Council?

_Jaina, you all right?_

_I'm fine, Kyp._

She was glad that Kyp had come with her. Though she had resented the idea at first, after the battle with Grievous she was very glad that he was here, and for more than one reason. Not only had he helped her in the battle, he was her link to their past, a constant reminder of what they had to do, of whom they were fighting for…

Already they were working as a team, all former resentment and annoyance with each other gone. They had laid out their plan. They had worked on their story to make it as smooth, convincible and believable as possible. Now they had to present it to their audience.

The door to her room slid open. Jaina stood up and turned around. She smiled briefly at the Jedi who stood in the doorway.

"I suppose the Jedi Council is ready to see me."

Jaina remembered the High Council and how Uncle Luke had fought for it to be formed and eventually had non-Jedi join it. She supposed that the Jedi Council was fairly similar to the High Council and when she was led into the Council room, she found that she was partially right. With the exception of their views, their location and that the Jedi Council was exactly what its name said – the High Council _was_ the same as the Jedi Council.

Kyp was already there, his hands – like hers – in binders, another sign of how much they would have to work to convince the Council that they were trustworthy.

As she glanced around the well-lit room, she recognized Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Windu out of the circle of grim-faced Jedi Masters. Then her eyes fell on a small, greenish, hunchbacked creature with large ears and deep, penetrating eyes.

A name popped into her mind as she looked at him. _Yoda…_ So this was the famous Yoda, Luke's mentor, the one who had instructed her uncle to pass on what he had learned…

She trembled as she looked into those bright green eyes and felt as though everything she stood for was being testing under that solid gaze.

"Jedi you appear to be," Yoda began grimly, "but Jedi you are not. On the _Invisible Hand_ you were – what did you there?"

"Master Yoda," Jaina began. All eyes turned to her.

She swallowed hard. This was more nerve-wracking than she had imagined.

"We were captured on Raxus Prime and taken on board. Only until after the _Invisible Hand_ was in flight were we taken to Grievous. He threatened to kill us and took our lightsabers. We escaped by convincing him we were on his side and then returned and escaped a second time so we could retrieve our lightsabers. We were trying to find an escape pod when we found Master Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker."

"What were you doing on Raxus Prime?" Master Windu asked.

"You believe we are Sith," Kyp began calmly. "And while we deny that we are, you still suspect. We are trained in the ways of the Jedi and yet you have never heard of us."

They were coming to the bulk of the lie. The Jedi Masters were listening intently.

"The reason is simple," Kyp continued. "We come from the Outer Rim territories. I discovered the Force when I was young and had no knowledge of it until I met one of your Jedi Knights. I can't remember his name, it was too long ago. His ship was broken and while it was being repaired, he taught me what he knew and told me that he was going to take me back to Coruscant with him."

Obi-Wan shifted in his seat at this.

"He fell ill before they repaired the ship and he died. He asked me to pass on what he had taught me. I did so when I met Jaina. We've been a team for a long time. When we heard of the Separatist movement and the Clone Wars, we decided it was time to come out of seclusion. We gathered what information we could and decided to come to Coruscant to help you and with hopes of becoming real Jedi Knights. We got stuck on Raxus Prime and Grievous' officers took us captive, believing we were Jedi."

Some Masters exchanged glances with each other. Murmurs went around the circle of Jedi.

"We can explain the lightsabers," Jaina said quickly. "Mine is violet. Kyp's is red – you may believe him to be a Sith for that. But can anyone claim that someone is a Sith based on observations over the colour of a lightsaber?" She paused. "No. If Master Windu's blade was scarlet instead of violet, would you declare him a Sith? If a Sith's blade was blue, would you label him as a Jedi? No. It matters what views those Force-users take, not what colour their blade is. Grievous made the same mistake at the beginning. We were able to escape from him unscathed while unarmed because he believed all Sith blades to be red. In the Outer Rim you don't have much choice for a blade. Kyp's happens to be red because that was the colour of the gem he found. Mine's violet because that was the gem that I found. Colour reflects nothing upon who we are and our views."

She looked at Yoda. The ancient Jedi Master looked straight back at her, weighing her words, slowly thinking about the meaning of them.

"Masters," Jaina added quickly, "we've come here to help – not to be detained by you or to harm the Jedi Order. We have already helped defeat Grievous. The war is almost over. Let us help you."

The silence that followed was long. The Masters exchanged looks, silently evaluating the two prisoners in front of them.

Finally, Master Yoda spoke. "Help you offered. Accept we must. Stay, you will, in the Temple, until the Council decides your fate."

The binders around their hands came undone. Jaina gave a small jump of surprise and looked round, almost automatically, at Obi-Wan. Her eyes met his and she shivered at his perplexed look. She turned away.

Kyp bowed his head.

"Thank you, Master Yoda."


	11. Visions and Dilemmas

**CHAPTER XI**

**Visions and Dilemmas**

_He could not see. Everything was all white light. He felt himself knocking into something, his hands gripping the edge of… a table? He couldn't tell. His knees were sinking out from under him._

_Voices echoed in the distance, coming closer. Angry voices, then shouts, then screams. He couldn't make out what they were saying. He heard a lightsaber igniting, a female voice shouting and a blaster shot._

_The shot echoed around him and faded into a terrible, ghastly silence._

_There was a scream and the whiteness faded away, replaced by a familiar face – his mother's. He reached out for her, calling "Mom! Mom!" but Shmi Skywalker was beyond reach. Her face faded away, replaced by Padmé's._

_Or was it Jaina Solo's?_

_The white light was back. The yells, the screams filled his ears and the whiteness ebbed away, leaving Padmé lying on the ground, blood streaming from a wound in her side. Red blood is spattered across her face, matting her hair._

_Padmé!_

_He was rushing to her, the fire in his chest burning rapidly. But then he couldn't move. Something was holding him back –_

_Padmé!_

_She was dying, or was already dead. He struggled to release himself, wanting desperately to rush to her aid, but he couldn't. Someone else – a tall, dark man – ran past him, screaming a name he couldn't hear._

_He stared at Padmé… but no, it wasn't Padmé. It was Jaina lying there, her wound pulsing with her life blood. It was Jaina who was dying._

_She looked like Padmé. But the woman was Jaina, it had to be – there was a lightsaber by her side! It had to be Jaina –_

_Padmé!_

Anakin woke up, breathing heavily, sweat covering his body. He put his head in his hands, trying to get the image of the brown-haired woman out of his head. It couldn't have been Padmé, it just couldn't… it _had_ to be that Jaina Solo. There had been a lightsaber beside her body. Yes, it _had_ to be Jaina Solo!

He glanced over at his sleeping wife, trying to calm himself down. She wasn't going to die. She wasn't…

She looked so peaceful, unperturbed by nightmares. He smiled. Padmé always looked so beautiful when she was asleep.

Anakin's dream came back to him with startlingly reality. She couldn't die. It was impossible for her to die.

He trembled. What if it _had_ been her? What if it hadn't been Jaina lying there, bleeding to death, and it had been Padmé?

No… she wouldn't die! She couldn't! He wouldn't let her.

The woman had to be Jaina Solo…

Anakin rose from the bed and walked to the window. Coruscant's lights flickered. He couldn't sleep now, there was too much on his mind.

The dream terrified him. It reminded him of the ones he used to have – the nightmares about his mother.

Last time he had been too late. He couldn't save his mother. But this time was different. He wouldn't let it happen. Padmé _would_ not die!

There was a soft sound behind him and he felt Padmé's hand touch his arm. He relaxed, inhaling her sweet sent – her presence was soothing.

"Anakin, what's wrong?"

He glanced at her. "Nothing," he murmured. "Just a dream."

Padmé's face turned solemn. "Was it a bad dream?"

Anakin looked away. "Yes. Death… so much death." He turned back and gripped her arm. Padmé's eyes widened, her expression startled. "And worse of all, I can't tell who the woman was. She looked like you, but she also looked like Jaina Solo—"

Padmé's eyes hardened.

"—and she had a lightsaber. It can't have been you, Padmé. It just can't."

Padmé pursed her lips and put her arms tenderly around him. "Anakin," she murmured, "I promise, with this war about to end, I'm not going to die. At least, not until the baby is born."

Anakin glanced at her, surprised to see that the look of worry that had accompanied the mentioning of the baby before had disappeared. It was replaced by something else, something that gave Padmé a warm, smiling expression.

He held her close. "Don't die, Padmé," he breathed into her hair. "Please."

"Hush," she murmured. "I won't. Don't let these dreams trouble you." She smiled softly, took his hand and led him back to bed.

But the dreams were hard to forget. Even though he desperately wanted to get rid of them, Anakin couldn't get the image of the dying woman out of his mind.

* * *

Anakin arrived at the Jedi Temple early the next morning. He found Obi-Wan waiting for him.

"What of the two Jedi?" he asked immediately as they headed towards the debriefing room.

Obi-Wan paused and looked curiously at his friend. "The Council is deciding what to do today."

"And?" Anakin demanded impatiently.

"They offered to help us and Yoda accepted that help," Obi-Wan told him. "They claim to have been taught by an old Jedi Master who died on their planet in the Outer Rim before he could return from his mission."

Anakin remained silent for a long moment. It sounded unbelievable to him. He was positive that it was a lie.

"And you believe that?!" he exclaimed.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said calmly, "the Council is yet to make their decision."

"It sounds far-fetched to me."

"I have reason to believe that, while what they say might not be true, they are not Sith."

_"Not Sith?_ Master, how can you say that? Everything points in their direction!"

Obi-Wan looked witheringly at his old Padawan. "That 'everything' is merely the colour of their lightsabers and the fact that we don't know them. Master Yoda seems to trust them. How can you accuse them of being Sith? You saw them fight, Anakin. Stop and use your senses."

Anakin remained quiet as they made their way towards the Outer Rim briefing. They paused outside the room.

"You know Master," Anakin said acidly, "you may be right."

With their release from custody, Jaina felt that, at last, they were getting somewhere. Though the task ahead was not exactly a stroll with the Ewoks, she and Kyp had, for the time being, gained the trust of the Jedi Council. Or… _most_ of the Jedi Council. Mace Windu's expressions had clearly told her that he did not believe them but was prepared to accept their presence in the Jedi Temple for now.

Jaina had to admit that the grim Jedi Master had a right to not trust them, though. If she had been in these Jedi's places, she would not have easily accepted the lie she and Kyp had told.

However, it was much more believable than the thought of time travel. Jaina herself still could barely register the fact that they had manipulated the Force into letting them slip from present to past. Still, she had a feeling that Obi-Wan hadn't easily accepted their lie either and that he was willing to believe it for the time being until he had more facts.

Facts that Jaina wasn't planning on letting loose any time soon.

As for Yoda – she didn't know what to think of the little green Jedi Master. She had a strange feeling that he _somehow_ knew what might be going on and who she and Kyp really were.

That had been part of yesterday's thoughts. Today she had to concentrate on showing that the lie she and Kyp had told the Council was a truth, making it run smoothly and most importantly, making herself _look_ as if she fit in with the rest of the Jedi. At least part of that had already been completed.

When she and Kyp had left the Council, they were led by a Jedi and her apprentice to spare chambers that would accommodate them and given clean robes that fit fairly well. While Jaina wasn't too fond of the Jedi robes (she strongly preferred her jumpsuit), she had to admit that they helped her become less conspicuous as ever and slip unnoticed into the throng of Jedi.

There was another good thing about the change of clothes – the robes were a definite improvement for Kyp, Jaina thought with a smile. He could pass for any Master on the Council.

After they had changed into their robes, the pair of Master and apprentice had given them a tour of the Jedi Temple. Jaina liked her guides; the Master was a young Twi'lek named Falcia Garunda and her Padawan was a human girl of no more than twelve called Xana Sunsoar. Xana was thrilled to give a tour to the two strange Jedi and chatted animatedly to them the entire time. Through Xana's excited talk, Jaina was beginning to understand the ways that these Jedi functioned.

She had no idea that the Jedi had so many codes and rules. It was strange to compare these regulations to what the Jedi of _her_ time followed. Of course, Jaina should have been expecting this, as she _had_ caught a glimpse of it when Jacen had spoken of Vergere (her mind shuddered – she had to ask sometime about that Jedi Knight), but she hadn't been expecting anything so… extreme.

And it all seemed to be for protection against the dark side. She snorted. It was stupid – she functioned perfectly well without these rules and regulations!

It didn't matter – all these rules were bound to change soon enough. If she had her way – and she was determined that she would – Anakin would remain a Jedi and her mother and uncle would be born. The Council would be confronted with the fact that he had children and the rules would be forced to change.

The morning after their tour, Jaina woke early and decided that some unguided exploring was in order. She rolled out of bed, dressed quickly and left the room.

As she wandered the halls of the Jedi Temple, she saw Obi-Wan Kenobi discussing something with a furious-looking Anakin Skywalker. They didn't see her, and soon they entered what appeared to be a debriefing room, disagreement etched on their faces.

Jaina decided that she would have to wait for them. She had to get to know them. The closer she came to Anakin –- and Obi-Wan – the better. It would, after all, be difficult to save someone she only knew distantly from the Dark side.

She brushed a piece of loose hair aside and breathed out slowly. She wished that she had an idea of _how_ Anakin had turned to the dark side. Professor Augustine had said that he had been deceived by a lie that Palpatine had told him. But what kind of lie? He would have to have some type of friendship with Palpatine to trust and believe him. From the way Anakin and Obi-Wan had acted on Grievous' ship, it seemed like her grandfather _was_ on speaking terms with the Chancellor.

That left one obvious option: sever Anakin's friendship with Palpatine.

Cutting Anakin off from the Chancellor would be near impossible. It was evident that the Sith Lord desperately wanted Anakin on his side. He wanted Anakin to become Darth Vader.

Jaina felt like thumping her head on the wall. _He wanted Anakin to become Darth Vader._ What a remarkable thought! Like she hadn't known that already!

The guise of Darth Vader would give Palpatine a false sense of security. Eventually, Anakin would turn on him and attempt to kill him to prevent the Sith Lord from killing his son.

_Yeah, in twenty-odd years,_ Jaina thought sourly.

That was what had happened in _her_ past – a past that would most certainly not happen anymore. But what if she just let events roll by, have them take their natural course and in twenty-odd years make sure that Darth Vader killed Palpatine outright and _didn't_ just throw him down a bottomless shaft?

The thought sarcastically amused her – wouldn't it be amusing just to sit by, relax and let things run on as they had before?

No, she had to act now, while there still was time. She was here to save the Galaxy from years of death, torment and heartbreak that it would never fully recover from. Besides, she knew that things wouldn't go on the way they had in her past. She and Kyp had wrecked their entry to this era by landing on Raxus Prime instead of Coruscant. That had forced them to meet and fight Grievous, that disgusting bio-droid. Kyp had killed him. Not Obi-Wan, not Anakin. They had already seriously altered time. How could she guarantee that Grievous was killed by either of them in _her_ past?

Her head ached. Sorting this out was going to drive her mad.

She simplified her problem; she and Kyp were here. They were going to have Anakin confront and kill Palpatine now, in _this_ era, not twenty years in the future.

Jaina looked up. Though it was still early, Padawans and their Masters were beginning to wander through the halls. She watched them come and go, watched the traffic outside pass by the Jedi Temple…

It was all so calm now, so perfect. Of course, it didn't seem like it – they were in the midst of a war, but everything hadn't begun to explode… yet.

And when everything burst into chaos, she hoped that she would be there, ready to stop Anakin before he fell to darkness.

Jaina heard the debriefing room door slide open and Obi-Wan and Anakin exited amongst other Jedi, deep in discussion. Anakin looked up and saw her gazing at them from across the hall. A perplexed and angry glare was directed at her and he turned and spoke quickly to Obi-Wan.

Jaina began walking towards them. She needed to speak to Anakin.

Before she could reach them, a shuttle pulled up. Anakin spoke to the two grim-looking guards before exchanging a word or two with Obi-Wan. Jaina edged closer, trying to look casual, hoping to catch a few of their words. Before she could come within ear-shot, Anakin climbed in the shuttle and it flew away quickly.

Jaina folded her arms and sighed, walking away. There was no chance of talking to Anakin yet; he was a busy Jedi. Where was he going?

"Jaina Solo!"

She recognized Obi-Wan's voice and turned around to greet him.

"Hello," she said.

"I trust you find everything satisfactory," the Jedi Master said politely.

Jaina smiled tightly. For some reason, she had become extremely nervous. Obi-Wan's strong Force-presence filled her with a sense of the unnatural – here was a man, a very loyal and strong Jedi Master whom she would never had met if it hadn't been for time travel. He was also her uncle's first mentor – a position that he may never have now that she was here, changing the past. This thought had the strangest effect on her. For once, she could not speak.

"Ah…" she finally said. "Yes, everything's fine."

_Or it would be if Palpatine wasn't around and I was back home where I should be._

Obi-Wan smiled at her and patted her on the shoulder before leaving. He had gone a little ways down the hall when Jaina turned and called his name.

"Obi-Wan!"

He glanced back at her, his expression questioning. "Yes?"

She walked quickly over to him. "Where was Anakin going?" she asked, trying not to sound too inquisitive.

Obi-Wan seemed hesitant in responding. "The Chancellor's office."

"What, he's gone to see Palpatine?" Jaina exclaimed.

"The Chancellor and Anakin have been friends for a long time," Obi-Wan explained calmly, eyeing Jaina cautiously.

She tried to compose herself and hide her alarm. _He's gone to see Palpatine?!_

"Master Kenobi," Jaina said as calmly as she could, forcing her expression not to appear panicked, "have you ever been worried about the consequences Anakin's friendship with the Chancellor may bring?"

_And you_ should _be worried…_

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Jaina paused, searching for what to say. She couldn't very well shout "Palpatine is a Sith Lord!" at him. She would lose every trust she and Kyp had gained so far and then what hope would they have of stopping Palpatine if they didn't have the support of the Jedi here?

No, she would have to take a longer way around.

"Tell me honestly," she said slowly, trying to twist her next words so they would sound like she knew what was going on, "have you been… happy with what Palpatine has done as Chancellor?" She hesitated, before plunging on. "This war has lasted long enough – if he had done things differently, if he had stayed more… diplomatic, many lives could have been spared. It is only now that Grievous has been killed, and that happened only because Kyp and I were at the wrong place at the wrong time and were foolish enough to allow ourselves to be caught by Grievous' minions. Who knows what's happening to the Republic's political system? It could be failing, more and more politicians could be becoming corrupt – they aren't to be trusted. Especially when the most powerful politician is friends with a Jedi who is… to me… emotionally unstable."

She hoped that not only did it make sense, but also wouldn't complicate matters for her. Surprisingly, Obi-Wan hadn't interrupted her. Instead, he fixed her with a long, calm look, coolly taking her ramblings in.

"What you say may be true, Jaina," Obi-Wan said after a moment of silence. "We have experienced this for many months now. We realize that Palpatine is giving his office more and more power -- over the Senate, over the Jedi, over everyone -- but we have no choice but to trust him until this war is over and the Separatists have been stopped. Then we can face the politicians."

He looked directly at her. "And we have a Sith Lord to find."

Jaina's eyes flicked away. She shifted her weight uncomfortably, unable to meet Obi-Wan's eyes.

_No, we don't have to_ find _him. We have to… stop him before he corrupts Anakin. And then we need to have Anakin kill him._

"Don't you find that the politicians have too much control over the Jedi?" she blurted suddenly.

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Jaina shrugged, hoping that she wasn't digging herself into a bigger hole. "The relations between the Senate and the Jedi are strained," she began slowly.

"That is obvious to anyone. And with Palpatine's further amendment concerning the Jedi–"

Jaina froze. "What amendment?" she whispered, feeling that it could not be good.

Obi-Wan looked quizzically at her. "All Jedi must report to the Chancellor. Personally. Chancellor Palpatine feels that it will help find and exterminate all the scattered Separatists and end this war for good."

Jaina's insides squirmed and then she felt like her stomach had fallen out. Palpatine was watching the Jedi. The noose around all of their necks was tightening.

"Would you excuse me?"

Jaina nodded tersely; Obi-Wan touched her on the shoulder and left.

She shivered as she glanced up at the sky teeming with its normal Coruscanti traffic. Was she doing the right thing, keeping this big of a secret from the Jedi Order? Was she putting Anakin into even more danger by drawing back now that she was here and waiting until the time was right to let out her secret? What if the time never came?

What if Anakin was beyond saving because she wasn't acting right now?


	12. Choices

**CHAPTER XII**

**Choices**

Anakin had been to Palpatine's office on many occasions, but never before had he been this tense and uncomfortable.

Before he had left on the shuttle, Obi-Wan had said "be wary of Palpatine," something which deeply discomforted him. At the back of his mind something kept focusing on those words and transforming them into "Palpatine is dangerous."

The "Palpatine is dangerous" alert was acutely irksome; the Chancellor had been his friend for a very long time. Anakin had never felt endangered by Palpatine and never before had he been faced with the possibility that Palpatine was dangerous.

_Be wary of Palpatine. _

Why, though? His political status? Surely not – although politicians were, as Obi-Wan had once said, not to be trusted, they were hardly dangerous. Palpatine was an old man – how could he be dangerous? It seemed ridiculous, even laughable, that Palpatine was the type of person who could suddenly whip a lightsaber out of his sleeve and attack Anakin.

_Be wary of Palpatine. _

Anakin thought of Jaina Solo, her calm and cool figure waiting, watching as he and Obi-Wan came out of the Outer-Rim briefing. What had _she_ wanted? He felt distinctly uncomfortable whenever she looked at him – it was almost as if she was watching him to see if he went over the line and did something… reckless.

He shivered. Anakin walked down the long corridor leading to Palpatine's office. When he arrived, the Chancellor was gazing out the view wall at the blazing traffic.

"Anakin," he greeted him without turning around. "Join me."

As Anakin walked up beside him, Palpatine began to speak.

"I have asked you here," he said, "because I need you help on a matter of extreme delicacy. I hope I can depend upon your discretion, Anakin."

Anakin hesitated. A strong feeling of discomfort flickered through him. He took his time in replying.

"As a Jedi, there are… limits… to my discretion, Chancellor."

Palpatine turned to him and smiled. "Of course. Don't worry, my boy. In all these years we have been friends, have I ever asked you to do anything even the slightest bit against your conscience?"

Anakin opened his mouth to reply, but Palpatine cut across him.

"And I never will," he continued firmly. "I am very proud of your accomplishments as a Jedi, Anakin. You have won many battles the Jedi Council insisted to me were already lost – and you saved my _life._ It's frankly appalling that they still keep you off the Council yourself."

Anakin swallowed at the mention of not being on the Council. It was his deepest desire; to be a Jedi Master alongside the others, alongside Obi-Wan, making decisions, accomplishing missions. But while the Chancellor's words made him feel good, he still didn't want to get into Jedi matters with the Chancellor.

"My time will come when I am older," he said slowly, although he couldn't help wishing that it would come today. "And, I suppose, when I am wiser."

"Nonsense," Palpatine scoffed. "Age is no measure of wisdom. They keep you off the Council because it is the last hold they have on you, Anakin; it is how they control you. Once you're a Master, as you deserve, how will they make you do their bidding?"

"Well…" Anakin began sheepishly. "They can't exactly _make_ me, even now."

"I know, my boy," Palpatine interjected. "I know. That is precisely the point. You are not like them. You are younger, stronger… _better._ If they cannot control you now, what will happen once you are a Master in your own right? How will they keep your toes on their political line? You may become more powerful than all of them together. That is why they keep you down. They fear your power. They fear _you." _His voice grew more and more hurried as he said this.

Anakin looked away. The Chancellor had just verbalized what he had been feeling for a long time, deep down. But part of him still wanted to contradict that feeling; the part that screeched _Palpatine is dangerous!_ also shouted, _Obi-Wan does not fear you; he is your friend!_

"I have asked you here today, Anakin, because I have fears of my own."

Anakin glanced at him and saw that the Chancellor was looking very bleak.

"I am coming to fear the Jedi themselves."

The words fell like a dead weight.

_Be wary of Palpatine. _

The Jedi feared Palpatine.

And Palpatine feared the Jedi.

The world had just gotten much more complicated – a complicated world that Anakin was now going to try to deny.

"Chancellor," Anakin began, "there is no one more loyal than the Jedi. Surely, after all this time –"

"The Council keeps pushing for more control," Palpatine admonished. "More autonomy. They have lost all respect for the rule of law. They have become more concerned with avoiding the oversight of the Senate than with winning the war."

"With respect, sir, many on the Council would say the same of _you."_

There was a slight pause. "I have no doubt of it," Palpatine said quietly. "Many of the Jedi on your Council would prefer I was out of office altogether – because they know I'm on to them now. They've shrouded in secrecy, obsessed with covert action against mysteriously faceless enemies –"

Anakin had to laugh. "Well, the Sith are hardly faceless, are they? I mean, Count Dooku himself –"

"Was he truly a Lord of the Sith?" Palpatine replied sharply. "Or was he just another in your string of fallen Jedi, posturing with a red lightsaber to intimidate you.

"I…" Anakin frowned. He remembered Kyp Durron and _his_ red lightsaber all too clearly.

But then, how could they be sure that Durron and his friend, Jaina Solo, weren't Sith? The way Solo had looked at him before the shuttle came…

He shoved the thought back. Yoda trusted them. _Obi-Wan_ trusted them. He had no choice but to accept them until he had further information. He hoped that information would come quickly. He didn't want to trust them.

But deep down, past all the suspicion, a new thought had been growing. It was just a sense – a sense that he _should_ trust these new arrivals. For some reason, he felt awfully close to them, tied to them through a bond that no one could possibly understand. The sense was telling him that they were here for something; something that could, possibly, help _him._

"And even that Jedi yesterday, what was his name?"

"Durron –"

"Yes; he wields a red lightsaber, but the Jedi do not fear him. What makes him different from any of the other Sith? Why do the Jedi trust _him_, of all people – he came out of no where with the other one, under suspicious circumstances. In my view, that makes them more dangerous than the faceless Lord Sidious himself!"

Anakin frowned. "But Sidious –"

Palpatine smiled softly. "'The Sith infiltrator in the highest levels of government.' That's what I have been told, too often to keep count. Doesn't that sound a little overly familiar to you too, Anakin? A little overly _convenient?_ How do you know that this Sidious exists?"

The Dark side clouds everything…

"How do you know he is not a _fiction_, a fiction created by the Jedi Council, to give them an excuse to harass their political enemies?"

Obi-Wan would never do that…

"The Jedi are not political," Anakin said firmly.

"In a democracy, _everything_ is political, Anakin," Palpatine said. "And everyone. This imaginary Sith Lord of theirs – even if he does exist – is he anyone to be feared? To be hunted down and exterminated without trial?"

Anakin shook himself; the Chancellor simply did not understand.

"The Sith are the definition of evil –"

"Or so you have been trained to believe," Palpatine interjected loudly. "I have been reading about the history of the Sith for some years now, Anakin. Ever since the Council saw fit to finally reveal to me their… assertion that these millennium-dead sorcerers had supposedly sprung back to life. Not every tale about them is held in your… _conveniently_ secret Temple archives. From what I have read, they were not so different from Jedi; seeking power, to be sure, but so does the Council."

"The Dark side—" Anakin began again but was immediately cut off.

"Oh, yes – certainly the Dark side. Listen to me: if this Darth Sidious of yours were to walk through _that_ door right now – and I could somehow stop you from killing him on the spot – do you know what I would do?"

Before Anakin could respond, Palpatine continued on, his voice rising angrily.

"I would ask him to sit down, and I would ask him if he has any power he could use to end this war!"

Anakin couldn't make any coherent response to this. He struggled with the idea – he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"And if he _did_, we'd talk it out!"

"Chancellor, you can't be serious!"

"Well, not entirely," Palpatine sighed and sat back down in his chair, the fury over. "It's only an example, Anakin. I would do anything to return peace to the galaxy, do you understand? That's all I mean. After all –" he smiled sadly – "what are the chances of an actual Sith Lord ever walking through that door?"

"I don't know," Anakin said slowly, this thoughts flicking to Solo and Durron once more, "but I do know that you probably shouldn't use that example in front of the Jedi Council."

The Chancellor chuckled at this remark. "Oh yes – quite right. They might take it as an excuse to accuse _me."_

Be wary of Palpatine!

"I'm sure they'd never do _that," _Anakin said firmly, but still one stray thought had to wonder…

"I am not," Palpatine countered. "I am no longer sure they'll stop at anything, Anakin. I find it surprising that they trust these _newcomers,_ these _new, _Jedi –"

"I don't trust them," Anakin said quickly.

Palpatine looked at Anakin.

"The Council trusts them," Anakin continued. "They held them in custody for less than a day before releasing them."

"The Council is _weak,"_ Palpatine said. "I very much doubt that -- Solo, is it? And Durron? – are here on innocent work. I wouldn't trust them either. It is even more probable that _they_ are the Sith you seek than the mysterious Lord Sidious…"

Anakin looked away. Again, he was forced to think about it… everything normal pointed out that they shouldn't trust them, that they were Sith – but then the feeling deep down inside him was telling him that he needed to trust them, that he _should_ trust them. Obi-Wan trusted them… and Obi-Wan didn't trust Palpatine.

"Enough of the Sith, Anakin!"

Palpatine's voice cracked into his thoughts. Anakin looked over at the Chancellor.

"I need your help," he was saying. "You may have heard that this afternoon the Senate will call upon this office to assume direct control of the Jedi Council."

Anakin frowned. "The Jedi will no longer report to the Senate?"

"They will report to me. Personally. The Senate is too unfocused to conduct this war; we've seen this for years. Now that this office will be the single authority to direct the prosecution of the war, we'll bring a quick end to things."

"The Council is in no mood for further constitutional amendments," Anakin pointed out firmly, feeling much discomfort at Palpatine's talk of the Jedi as if they were rebels that must be watched.

"Yes, thank you, my friend," Palpatine replied, waving the comment aside. "But in this case, I have no choice. This war must be won."

"Everyone agrees on that."

"I hope they do, my boy." The Chancellor smiled wanly. "I hope they do."

"I can assure you," Anakin said confidently, "that the Jedi are absolutely dedicated to the core values of the Republic."

Palpatine raised an eyebrow. "Their actions speak more loudly than their words – as long as someone keeps an eye on them. And that, my boy, is exactly the favour I must ask of you.'

Anakin frowned again. "I don't understand."

"Anakin," Palpatine said, his voice carrying the air of an adult patiently explaining a child their responsibilities, "I am asking you – as a personal favour to me, in respect of our long friendship – to accept a post as my personal representative on the Jedi Council."

Anakin blinked.

What?

The "beware of Palpatine" mantra began again. Should he be accepting anything from Palpatine, especially something that targeted his most desperate desire?

"Me?"

"Who else? You are the only Jedi I know, truly _know_, that I can trust. I _need_ you, my boy." Palpatine suddenly looked desperate. "There is no one else who can do this job: to be the eyes and ears – and the voice – of the Republic on the Jedi Council."

"On the Council…" Anakin murmured, stunned. He shook himself. "I am… overwhelmed, sir. But the Council elects its own members. They will never accept this."

"I promise you," the Chancellor said resolutely, "they will. They need you more than they realize. All it will take is for someone to properly explain it to them."

* * *

Far away, millions of light-years across the galaxy, night fell on a small, forest-choked planet. Hiding deep in the underbrush was a small, dark humanoid being dressed in silky furs of some type of animal. In one taloned hand he held a primitive spear as he watched the clearing ahead of him where a small, silver-furred animal grazed.

The humanoid was a hunter for his clan; the animal was his prize and it was all part of a ritual as old as the history of the alien's species. But neither the hunter nor the animal could expect what happened next.

Just as the hunter sprung from his hiding place and the animal flinched and tried to dart away, the clearing changed. It was if it was being bent; the colours swirled together, creating a dark lump and the earth shook and trembled violently, turning upside down.

Then the very fabric of the place tore and both the hunter and its prey vanished into a deep, gaping hole filled with a swirling black abyss.

It took only moments and the hole soon healed itself, returning the land to normal. However, in the place of the hunter and the animal stood a tall, cloaked figure. It touched the ground experimentally and sniffed the air. It straightened and turned its head slowly, examining the clearing.

Then, noiselessly, it moved away and into the darkness of the forest beyond.

* * *

Senator Padmé Amidala sat on a comfortable couch in her sitting room, silently watching the teeming traffic in the Coruscant airlanes. Today, for no particular reason, she missed the peace and tranquility of her homeworld more than ever. She longed to put her stressful Coruscanti life behind her and return to the wonderful landscapes of Naboo; and with the war winding down, perhaps she could return to her homeplanet. She would be going there soon, she thought with a smile; Naboo was, of course, the perfect spot to raise her child.

Her smile faded as quickly as it had come. She and Anakin had not yet made a decision on what to do when the baby was born; a decision on what _he_ would tell the Council, what _she_ would tell the Queen and how they would deal with the consequences that would follow the revelation of their marriage. It was no mystery to either of them what would happen. Anakin would no longer be a Jedi; he would be expelled from the Order for a most serious breach of the Jedi code. And she, Padmé, would no doubt have to resign from her post, either by the Queen's wish or because of the embarrassing headlines that would surface on the HoloNet. The media would have a field day with the news of what they would call a "scandal." That was if the Queen did not immediately fire her.

The possibility of her expulsion from the Senate worried Padmé. It wasn't the threat of the possible headlines and inter-galactic attention if the media found out about the baby – that could hardly scare her. A few scathing remarks by the cold, shallow media could hardly hurt her.

Her worries were founded in the thought of how the people of Naboo would be represented when she was gone from office. What would come to pass in the Senate concerning the war? Who would fight all the absurdities that were proposed on a daily basis? Who would protect the virtues and values of the Galactic populace? There were a few individuals she could think of who would try to take up the legacy that she had helped form in the Senate – Bail Organa was one, he was the most sensible Senator she knew.

Thinking of the stressful Senate was tiresome. Padmé did not want to absorb herself in politics and potential media scandals on this brilliantly sunny day. Instead, she contented herself by turning her thoughts back to the child that was growing inside her.

Padmé smiled, feeling almost as if she was glowing with happiness. She was going to be a mother! The thought, though heart-warming, was also frightening. Padmé remembered quite well when her sister Sola was pregnant and how excited and scared she was at the prospect of motherhood.

"It's the most wonderful feeling," Sola had said as she awkwardly waddled around the family kitchen. "But it's also rather frightening."

Sola… Padmé felt a deep sadness at the thought of her sister. She had not seen her for years, ever since she and Anakin had come to Naboo for refuge while Obi-Wan searched for her potential assassin. That had been so long ago, before the war, before _everything…_ so much had happened since then. Padmé had always dreamed of her family being there when she was married, but it had not been so. And now she couldn't even share her delight at the prospect of motherhood with them!

Someday, she decided, after the child was born and the whole affair had been smoothed over, if at all, she would return to her family on Naboo for a good, long time and share her own family with them.

Padmé wondered what they would think when she told them what had happened since she had seen them last. Her father, Ruwee, her mother, Jobal… they would be shocked, of course. Ruwee would be furious with Anakin and Jobal would try her best to ignore the past and concentrate on the present, enveloping them all with warmth until everything was smoothed over and accepted. Sola would sit in silence, then laugh and hug her little sister and reprimand her for keeping her marriage a secret.

Padmé longed to see them, now more than ever; with her family's faces flashing through her mind's eye, her desire to return home grew deeper. She rubbed her protruding stomach and shook her head – home would have to wait.

She sat there silently, content as she thought about the child – _their _child. She wondered what he, or she, would look like. Would it be a boy, with her eyes and Anakin's priceless expressions? Or perhaps it was a girl, looking more like Anakin but with her personality. Or maybe it would be a perfect mixture of them both – a perfect, wonderful child.

Such a child ought to have a fitting name, Padmé thought serenely. If it was a girl, what name would suit her? Sabé, after her dear friend and bodyguard from her days when she had been Queen? Or would it be Shmi, after Anakin's mother? If it was a boy… a dozen named flooded her mind, all ranging from dear friends to names that she had always been fond of. The name Luke struck her as a particularly good name.

Padmé, unlike so many other women across the Galaxy, had no desire to have the medics tell her what gender her child would be. Motherhood was full of surprises and she wanted to enjoy all of them to the fullest extent – although, to be frank, her first bout of morning sickness hadn't been so much surprising as unexpected at the time. She still blushed with embarrassment at the memory of the incident where… Needless to say, Anakin had laughed himself silly when she had recounted the occurrence to him the night before.

She wondered what Anakin was doing at this moment. He was probably in a meeting of some sort at the Jedi Temple. On impulse, Padmé glanced out at the horizon where she could see the minute pillars of the Jedi Temple rising upwards, reaching into the sky.

She frowned as she thought about the Jedi Temple; they had new residents, new, fully trained Jedi – if it was possible to believe. Anakin had told her the night before about these mysterious Jedi who had appeared on Grievous' ship and helped them defeat the bio-droid general and rescue the Chancellor. It was unnerving – how was it possible? Wouldn't the Jedi have sensed them before now?

Just like everyone else, Padmé wanted to know who they were and what they wanted. What had they come for? Were they here for a specific reason? It wasn't mere political curiosity that drew Padmé to them – it was Anakin's dream. That awful dream that he had described to her with such pain last night.

Others would ignore Anakin's dream; they would dismiss it as an obscure figment of his overactive imagination. Padmé knew better. A dream that got her husband worked up in a hot sweat and had him awake in the middle of the night, tossing and turning in fear, was a dream to be reckoned with. She knew it wasn't a normal dream. She remembered all too well what had happened last time Anakin had had a dream like this one. It still scared her – the dream of Shmi Skywalker's death had turned out to be all too real.

She was certain that _this_ new dream was made along the same lines. Padmé was not without enemies. There had been people trying to capture and kill her since she had been Queen of Naboo. She had survived multiple assassination attempts, but who was to say that she would always survive them? Anakin had said something about her dying. He hadn't described the actual way he had seen her die, but she had seen him frightened, so frightened.

Maybe… maybe it was something he couldn't protect her from.

Padmé was determined to figure this dream out before it was too late. Last night was all too clear in her mind – Anakin tossing and turning all night long after the dream, repeating the same words over and over again: "death", "Jaina" and "Padmé."

It frightened her. How could she prepare for catastrophe when it might not even be her who was going to die?

Jaina Solo. That was the name he kept repeating. The key lay with the mysterious Jedi woman who was apparently Padmé's Force-sensitive double. Perhaps it _was_ Jaina in the dream.

But why would Anakin dream about someone he barely knew?

Padmé glanced at the holovid beside her; it was flashing the latest new from the HoloNet. As titles and headlines flickered by, Padmé barely paid attention to them until a headline in bright red letters caught her eye.

MYSTERIOUS JEDI APPEAR AT TEMPLE

Curiosity and an urge to learn more struck her; Padmé leaned over and began to read.

The article was short, hardly more than a paragraph. It described the Jedi arriving at the Temple with an escort. It mentioned how they had been "held hostage on General Grievous' ship" before breaking loose to "aid General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker." It also recounted how they "participated in the heroic rescue of Chancellor Palpatine and the defeat of General Grievous."

Padmé pursed her lips. Why had _they_ been held hostage on Grievous' ship? Of all the prominent people in the Galaxy Grievous could have kidnapped, why did he capture two unknowns? A possible ransom? She didn't think so. Padmé was about to pull away when she saw the pictures. The images were blurry and taken from a bad angle, but they were enough. She saw the figures – one, a tall, dark, brooding man and the other a slim woman with thick of an awfully familiar colour…

Padmé bit her lip. Here they were, the mysterious duo: Kyp Durron and Jaina Solo. She couldn't work anything else out from the pictures, but at least her curiosity had been satisfied. However, it had only incensed her desire to save her husband from his nightmares.

She needed an idea of what type of person Jaina Solo really was; and she needed one that she had obtained _herself._ No second-hand opinions would do for her. Padmé's political training had long ago taught her how to read people just by talking to them.

Glancing at her chrono, she noted that it was almost lunch time. Padmé thought for a moment and decided that she could post-pone her afternoon activities if she needed more time.

She rose from her couch. She needed to talk to this Jaina Solo, and what better way to do so than a polite conversation over a meal?

After all, it was far easier than marching down to the Jedi Temple.


	13. Discoveries

**CHAPTER XIII**

**Discoveries**

Kyp Durron strode down the Jedi Temple halls, restraining the desire to swear loudly. Their second day in the past was not going well by his accounts – he had lost Jaina already and had just spent several hours searching through every stinking hall in the whole ridiculously large Jedi Temple!

At least his walk hadn't been completely useless. It had given him some perspective into the general lives of these ancient Jedi. He had viewed Padawans sparring in one room and a youngling lesson (taught by the little green Yoda himself) in another. He had spoken to several Jedi Knights and had nodded curtly to Mace Windu, who had coldly acknowledged him as he passed by.

However, he had walked through ever hall in a large circle three times now and still could not find Jaina anywhere. He had even tried to contact her through the Force, but he had only received a cold-shouldered, wordless response.

_Just like her,_ he thought grouchily.

Kyp was walking down the stairs to the main hall when he heard a small voice call out behind him.

"Lost something, have you?"

Kyp turned and bowed his head in greeting. "Good morning, Master Yoda," he said to the short, green Jedi Master.

Yoda didn't reply and instead looked at Kyp with his wise eyes, waiting for a reply.

"Er… yes," Kyp said, shrugging in response to Yoda's earlier question. "I've lost Jaina."

Did he detect a flicker of a smile in Yoda's face?

"Lost your companion, you have? How embarrassing."

Kyp smiled tightly; his opinion of Yoda – whom he had always heard was very wise – was slowly going down hill.

Yoda tapped his walking stick on the floor. "In the Jedi Archives, Jaina Solo is."

Kyp was struck with a feeling of deep embarrassment. He had walked three times around the Jedi Temple and had not even bothered, for some unknown reason, to look in the Archives!

_Idiot._

"Find her later, you will," Yoda continued. He tapped his stick on the ground again. "Come. Talk, we will." The little Jedi Master turned and hobbled down the hall, leaving Kyp with no choice but to follow him.

Last week Kyp would have, like anyone else, blown the person off as insane if they had told him that he would soon be meeting Yoda, one of the most paramount Jedi Masters of the last age of the Old Republic. Today, he could barely register through his dim bewilderment that he was walking down a corridor in the ancient Jedi Temple beside the renowned Yoda.

"Confused, you are?" Yoda asked, amusement in his voice.

"I – er…"

Yoda chuckled. _"Much_ confusion I sense in you," he said cryptically. "Confused as to why you are here. Heh."

Kyp had forgotten to shield his thoughts; his emotions ran wildly through the Force, alerting the Jedi Master to many things. Furiously, he worked on blocking out everything.

"Hmm?" The Jedi Master was prodding for an answer.

"Yeah…" Kyp ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I'm confused. I'm not sure what we're – Jaina and me – are supposed to be doing here. We were sent to help –"

"Sent? Mentioned this before, you have not." Yoda's voice was flat. "Explain this, you must."

Kyp cursed his blunder.

"We were sent by a man called Augustine," Kyp explained. That was true – he had just left out some of the details. He found that a lie based on truth was easier to keep straight than a lie that was pulled from mid air. "He needed us to help you find the Sith Lord and help the Jedi overcome him."

Yoda looked at him, his eyes and expression unreadable.

"Lord Sidious, know him, you do?"

Kyp was startled by this sudden, unexpected remark.

"How --?" he began to say, but stopped. Somehow, Yoda _knew. _Yoda knew about it all – the fight with Sidious, the meeting with Augustine, the travel to this time…

"Much the Force will tell you," Yoda said, sharply accenting his words by striking the floor with the butt-end of his stick, "when in conversation with another. Much have you to learn, Master Durron."

Kyp flushed – he knew how to shield his thoughts and emotions very well, but apparently this diminutive Jedi Master could just as easily see straight through his shield!

"Lord Sidious, know him, you do?" Yoda repeated, more firmly this time.

Kyp nodded slowly. "I've… met him. And I've heard many stories about him – all dark, bleak ones. He killed two of my companions." He thought furiously of Jacen's heroic, but tragic, duel with the Sith Lord and Jaina's resulting furious rage. He clenched his fists. He had seen enough of war. Palpatine had to be stopped, no matter what.

"The Jedi way, revenge is not," Yoda said calmly. "Banished, all dark thoughts must be, lest fall to the Dark side a Jedi will."

Kyp nodded, not out of agreement, but because he had no desire to argue the finer points of Force philosophy with Yoda here in a public spot where anyone could hear them. The time would come when he could do it freely, but for now he had to be cautious. Too much was at stake – if they blew their cover now, what would happen to them? Would they be carted off to some Jedi prison as lunatics? He and Jaina did not know enough of this world, of this time, to be certain _how_ the Jedi would react to time travelers.

A "humph" from Yoda brought him back out of his thoughts.

"Talk again, we shall," he said, stamping his stick for emphasis. "Much to discuss, we have." And then Yoda turned and hobbled away, leaving Kyp alone to think.

Kyp darted off towards the Jedi Archives – he needed to find Jaina and tell her about his meeting with Yoda. Most importantly, they needed a private place to discuss a plan. It had been hit-and-run up to here. Now they needed something a little more stabilized.

* * *

Jaina scowled at the computer screen before her. Besides more information on the Jedi ways, she hadn't discovered anything even vaguely useful. She had researched the Sith out of curiosity, but all she had found was lists with tiny descriptions of various Sith Lords from the past. Malak, Revan, Ludo Kressh… she was interested in the file on Exar Kun for a moment before she realized that Kyp probably knew more about Exar Kun than the Jedi Archive did.

While she had been reading up on various Sith Lords, Jaina had stumbled upon the only interesting file in the entire Archive. By reading it, she discovered that Obi-Wan's master had been a man called Qui-Gon Jinn. Apparently he had very… _different_ ideas that didn't always go along with what the Council liked. He was unfortunately killed by a Sith Lord some thirteen years previous.

He had also been the one to find Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine.

Now _that_ was an interesting piece of information.

Jaina wasn't only interested in old Jedi Masters and Sith Lords. Ever since she had arrived here on this old Coruscant, something in the back of her mind urged to find out about Vergere. Her brother's captor and tormentor… Vergere had come from _this_ era. Unfortunately, all that she had been able to find on Vergere was that she had gone on a mission some years previously to a strange planet far out in the galaxy and she had never returned. All other files that described the mission were classified information and Jaina couldn't access it.

She groaned with disappointment mixed with frustration. Stupid Archives. And weren't they supposed to be the best source of information in the galaxy?

"Can I help you?"

Jaina looked up from the screen to find the stern, but helpful face of the Jedi Archive's Chief Librarian looking at her inquiringly. Jaina's stomach squirmed – the short, white-haired woman seemed at times rather unfriendly and often looked at her as if she suspected something.

"Er… no, thank you," Jaina replied hurriedly, ignoring the fact that Jocasta Nu's blue eyes were narrowed in suspicion. She signing off quickly. "I've found what I was looking for."

The librarian gave her one more distrustful look, nodded stiffly and walked away.

Jaina let out a sigh of relief. She was mortified to think of what Jocasta Nu would have thought if she had discovered that Jaina was researching recent history such as Qui-Gon's death – events that every Jedi in this Temple would have known like the back of their hand. It would probably have raised questions that Jaina would have preferred not to answer.

Jaina left the Archives, heading back towards her rooms. She would come back later to see if she could uncover anything; and then she would go in search of Anakin or Obi-Wan again. If she could stay close to them, uncover anything that would help her in their mission…

"Knight Solo!"

Jaina spun around to see a young Jedi Padawan running to catch up with her.

"Yes?" she asked as the young boy skidded to a halt in front of her.

"I have a message for you," he said. "Senator Padmé Amidala wishes for you to visit her in her apartment for a private lunch."

Jaina's eyes narrowed. "Senator Padmé Amidala?"

The Padawan looked surprised. "The Senator from Naboo," he said firmly, his eyebrows slightly raised. "You should have at least heard of her, no matter where you're from. She's a very prominent politician."

Jaina was having a bad feeling about this, but she accepted the message anyways. Perhaps visiting this Senator would shed some light on the situation here. If she was a Senator that meant that she would have contact with Palpatine. Jaina thought about this and found it to her liking. Any information on Palpatine would be useful. If she knew his strengths and weaknesses as a politician then she would be able to formulate a plan. The more she knew, the easier it would be to defeat the Sith Lord.

She left the Jedi Temple without complaint.

* * *

Padmé Amidala waited in the main hall of her apartment, pacing back and forth. Her handmaidens, Ellé and Moteé waited calmly with her. They were expecting their visitor any moment now. There were so many questions for this stray Jedi… and what would she be like? A warrior? A peaceful negotiator? Padmé had to smile; those were the two descriptions of the Jedi she knew best – Anakin the brash warrior and Obi-Wan the composed negotiator.

"Padmé," Ellé said quietly, "why are you doing this?"

Padmé turned and looked at her friend. "I need answers, Ellé," she explained. "I need answers for questions about what's happening to our Republic. There are only two people that can answer those specific questions and those are the two stray Jedi that were found on board General Grievous' ship."

"Padmé," Ellé replied, "we don't know who she is. Is this wise?"

Padmé stayed silent for a moment. "Yes," she said finally. "Yes, it is." She glanced from Ellé to Moteé. "I need to know. And so do you."

The buzzer at her door sounded. Padmé turned around, ready to greet her visitor.

The door slid open and in came a young woman dressed in standard Jedi robes. A lightsaber hung from her belt. Padmé brushed away a momentary feeling of shock – Anakin had been right. As she looked at the girl, she felt like she was looking into a warped mirror. This Jedi was very similar to her. They had roughly the same face shape, their eyes were the same shade of brown, and their hair was essentially the same, except that while Padmé's was interwoven into elaborate hairstyles, the young woman wore hers in a plain, military-like style.

Padmé couldn't help but feel a fleeting moment of strange recognition as she looked at Jedi Knight Jaina Solo for the first time. Strangely enough, the child inside of her seemed to stir as well, almost as if he or she was welcoming this strange Jedi.

"Welcome, Jedi Solo," Padmé said, smiling graciously.

"You are Senator Amidala?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Padmé replied. "And these are my handmaidens, Ellé and Moteé."

The Jedi looked dubiously at Padmé's friends.

"I suppose you would like some lunch?" Padmé said.

Jaina Solo nodded. "That would be nice. After all, that's what you asked me here for, right?"

Padmé smiled. "Of course."

She led her guest through one of the side hallways in her apartment towards the dining area.

"Is this all Nubian art?" Jaina asked, her voice sounding curious as she commented on the various artworks Padmé had around her apartments.

"Yes," she answered. "As you can imagine, I'm very attached to my homeworld. I miss it – Naboo is very different from Coruscant. I like to keep a little bit of it here with me."

Jaina smiled. "How… nice."

"And what of you?" Padmé asked as she led Jaina into the dining areas and sat down on one of her couches. Ellé and Moteé drew back at a respectful distance, but close enough to hear the conversation. "Where's your homeworld?"

Jaina looked almost surprised at this question. "I don't remember my homeworld very well," she said after a pause. "I don't remember my parents, either. I grew up traveling until I met the man who trained me as a Jedi."

Padmé watched the young woman very closely as she spoke. _She's hiding something_, Padmé thought. There was something in her speech, some glint in her eye that gave her away. _She's lying about her homeworld. She sounds like she misses something greatly._

"You don't have any family, then?" Padmé asked, folding her hands together in her lap.

Jaina shook her head. "No. Not any more."

_That__'s an odd comment,_ Padmé thought, frowning. _She just said that she didn't remember her parents… so what does she mean by not any more?_

"Threepio?" Padmé called over her shoulder. "Could you bring us our lunch, please?"

C-3PO clanked into the room, shining gold. "Of course, Mistress Padmé!"

"Thank you." Padmé turned back to her visitor and found that Jaina was staring at the spot where 3PO had appeared with shock very evident on her face. "Knight Solo, are you all right?" Padmé asked, concerned.

Jaina blinked and turned back to Padmé. "Um, yes. Sorry."

Padmé nodded, her eyes narrowing slightly. This was very odd; why would a Jedi like Jaina react to seeing a protocol droid like 3PO in a manner of shock? Protocol droids weren't out of the ordinary, she must have seen one before sometime in her life. It must have something to do with her past, but what?

"I'm sorry, where did you say where you were from again?" Padmé asked.

"Corellia," Jaina said absently, her expression tightened and her eyes still focused on the spot where 3PO had just left the room.

Padmé's eyebrows went up. Jedi shouldn't be this easy to read, she thought. What was going on? Was Jaina even a Jedi? She had just made a very obvious blunder… she said that she didn't remember her homeworld but she just said that she was from Corellia –

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything," Jaina said quietly. "I remember that I'm from Corellia, but I don't remember much about it."

Padmé's eyes widened. She hadn't spoken aloud, so how…? Did Jaina just _read_ her mind? Perhaps she _was_ a Jedi – a very talented Jedi – after all? Or, as Anakin feared, something else, something terrible. Was she a Sith in disguise?

Padmé shuddered.

"Your lunch is here, Mistress Padmé and Knight Jaina," C-3PO announced in his prissy voice as he carried the trays over and placed their meals in front of them. "Shall you be requiring anything else?"

"No, thank you, Threepio," Padmé said. "You can go."

The protocol droid clanked off. Padmé noticed Jaina's eyes following him.

"He is a very good protocol droid," she said, picking up her drink.

Jaina turned back and looked at her. "Oh, yes," she said. "Yes, of course."

"He's not for sale, though, mind you," Padmé said firmly.

Jaina grinned. "Was I thinking of buying him?"

Padmé set her drink back down on her tray. "Who knows? Go on, try something. 3PO isn't bad at preparing meals."

Jaina smiled tightly and picked up a piece of shurra fruit.

"Who trained you?" Padmé asked, trying to find the best way to get the answers to her questions about the mysterious Jedi sitting in front of her. "Can you tell me his name? I've spoken to a few of the other Jedi about you, but they haven't told me anything."

Jaina's eyebrows went up. "You're curious?"

Padmé shrugged. "Just a bit."

"It was on a distant planet," Jaina said. "I don't remember its name, I'm not even sure if it even _had_ a name. But I was found by a man called Augustine. I used to call him the Professor. He trained me and he trained Kyp."

Padmé nodded slowly. "Kyp," she said. "That's your companion, right? The other mysterious Jedi?"

Jaina laughed, picking at her food with her fork. "Yeah, that's us. The mysterious Jedi." She rolled her eyes. "The galaxy is so funny. Anything that's new or different they automatically tack on a 'mysterious' or 'dangerous' label."

"It's typical of all humans, all species," Padmé told her. "We're scared of change. We're scared by the new things. We're frightened of unknown territory. To protect ourselves, we approach it cautiously and add _'dangerous'_ labels on it, as you say."

Jaina smiled and ate another piece of shurra fruit. "Yeah, sure." She chewed, an inquisitive expression on her face. "What's this fruit, it's _really_ good."

Padmé laughed. "Shurra fruit. It's one of my favourites, too." She paused and the two women ate in silence. "Why were you sent here?" she asked.

"Is this turning into an inquiry session?" Jaina countered.

Padmé smiled and laughed. "Of course not. I'm just satisfying my curiosity."

"Every time I do that I seem to get myself into trouble," Jaina commented blithely. "If you really want to know, I suppose there's no harm in telling you. You're a senator after all and the Senate and the Jedi Council must work together at times." She put down her knife and fork and folded her hands. "Augustine sent us here to help track down the Sith Lord the Jedi have been chasing for years."

Padmé's eyes tightened. The Sith Lord… she had heard Anakin mention him several times. The man working above the one who killed Qui-Gon on Naboo so many years ago, and the one who commanded Count Dooku before he died. The ever-present, looming threat to the Jedi Order.

But what if Jaina was sent here to _help_ that Sith Lord? What if her companion, Kyp Durron, was _the_ Sith Lord? What then?

"I've met the Sith before," Jaina said quietly. "And I can tell you, Senator, that they're a group to be reckoned with. They're powerful. They're unforgiving. One of them has killed my –" Her voice stopped abruptly. "Sorry… They've tormented many people I know, threatened my family and murdered…" She paused and looked away.

"Are you all right?" Padmé asked. The girl was upset. Padmé took back what she had thought before; after that speech, Jaina could not positively be allied to the Sith. Such fast and furious words against that order of dark Force-wielders.

Jaina shook her head. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. The Sith have damaged my entire life." She looked up. "I'm on the trail of this one. And trust me, Senator, he better watch out when I catch up to him."

* * *

Kyp drummed his fingers on the desk he was sitting at, his eyes staring blankly at the file pulled up on the screen in front of him. He was in the Jedi Archives, reading through history files, taking in as much information as possible.

He had arrived in the Archives an hour ago and walked around it three times before deciding that Jaina wasn't there. He had succeeded in nothing except memorizing the exact layout of the Archives and receiving a disapproving glare from the Chief Librarian. Finally, deciding that since Jaina had gone off on her own without a word – as was completely natural for her – he had nothing better to do than to research Jedi history and try to learn about recent events so that he and Jaina didn't continue to make complete fools of themselves.

Unfortunately, the information in the Archives was about as boring as listening to the Senate. Kyp found himself frequently drowsing off as he tried to slog through various files. So far, his mind had not taken in any information at all.

Sighing exasperatedly, he searched for a file at random, shifting through file upon file of information. Any file would do… see if it could relieve his boredom –

_Sith Lords_

_Darth Plagueis._

Raising an eyebrow, he read the title a second time and blinked. Plagueis? He had never heard of a Darth Plagueis before.

_Of all the numerous Sith Lords who have lived in the Galaxy, one of the most mysterious and mystifying is Darth Plagueis. Not much is known about this Sith Lord, as his past is shrouded in darkness. Little information about him exists, except for tales of his strength in the Force. Believed to be a Muun, Plagueis was the heir to the lineage of Darth Bane –_

With a loud beeping noise, the screen suddenly went blank. Kyp folded his arms and angrily leaned backwards in his chair. There had been at least another paragraph to read. Exhaling sharply, he banged the computer with a hand and it restarted, flashing bright colours across the screen. The word _Search?_ looked out innocently at him.

"Kriffing archives," Kyp muttered darkly.

"Knight Durron!" a shocked voice exclaimed loudly behind him.

Kyp winced and looked over his shoulder. Jocasta Nu stood there, one hand resting on her chest, a stunned look etched on her face.

"Uh…" He scrambled for words. "Sorry."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I would normally not criticize a Jedi Knight, but such language in a place where there are very young Padawans is abominable."

"Yes," Kyp said mildly, nodding. "Yeah, it is."

"And therefore I should warn you," the Chief Librarian continued, "that if I hear you using such language again in the Archives, I might have to throw you _out."_

"That's all right," Kyp said shortly, standing up. "I found what I was looking for."

He strode away irritably towards the exit, almost feeling Jocasta Nu's stern eyes boring into his back.

_Now, where the hell has Jaina gotten to?_ he thought savagely as he walked down the hall away from the Archives as quickly as possible.

* * *

Jaina felt as though her stomach had twisted itself into a tight knot and was growing tighter each passing second. Senator Amidala had mentioned the Sith and questioned her about her motives. That was when the past few days had come rushing back to Jaina and images of the battle on Mustafar with Palpatine had attacked her mind. She remembered all too clearly Mara being threatened by Palpatine's lightsaber and then Jacen – brave, wondrous Jacen who had sacrificed himself for his aunt, Jacen who had died in battle with the arch-enemy of their family – being impaled by Palpatine's lightsaber and their twin bond breaking the moment he drew his last breath.

She _had _to avenge him. And if she succeeded in saving Anakin, she would see him once again.

Jaina was shaking. She barely registered the fact that Padmé had left her seat on her couch and had moved over to sit by Jaina.

"Knight Solo, are you sure you're all right?" she asked kindly. "You don't look so well."

Jaina closed her eyes and breathed deeply. The memories would fade away again, the sense of horror would pass. "Yeah," she murmured. "I'll be fine."

Padmé patted her arm.

Jaina jumped as she felt a shock run through her body.

Padmé's hand snapped back and she looked at her in surprise. "What was that?"

Jaina bit her lip. "I don't know."

Jaina liked Padmé. It had been a shock at first when the door to her apartment slid open to find someone who looked almost exactly like her and very similar to her own mother. The Senator was kind, calm and inquisitive. She reminded Jaina of Leia so much that it was almost painful. Even the elaborate hairstyle brought Jaina memories of her mother.

She had begun to have her suspicions about just who Padmé Amidala was at that point. The Senator of Naboo was much more than she seemed.

As Jaina fought back her memories of Mustafar, she looked at Padmé. There was something about her that she had sensed before, but she had neglected to mention it. The Senator was dressed in very loose clothing – expensive and beautiful clothing, but loose. Jaina could only think of one thing that would cause a woman such as Padmé to wear loose clothing.

"Padmé," she said quickly, "you're not pregnant, are you?"

Padmé stiffened. "Why do you want to know?" she asked, her voice edged with steel.

"I'm a Jedi," Jaina replied. "I can sense it." Her eyes narrowed. The father… who was the father? Jaina bit her lip. If it was who she thought it was and Padmé was who she thought she was then… "Congratulations," Jaina choked out.

Padmé looked at her curiously. "Are you sure you're fine?" she asked. "And thank you."

Jaina smiled. "You're welcome."

Suddenly, she felt something very odd through the Force. There were two of them, very small; they were reaching out to _her._ They completely ignored their mother and were reaching out to _Jaina._ They were very familiar tremors in the Force.

The beginnings of two Force-signatures.

The beginnings of her mother and uncle.

As soon as she felt them reaching out, Jaina recoiled. There was no doubt now; she felt like she had known as soon as she had met Padmé, but this was a definite. She was speaking to her grandmother. And her grandmother was carrying her mother and uncle inside her.

_This is_weird Jaina thought, shuddering. _This is _not _normal…_

"Jaina?" Padmé asked.

Jaina didn't answer immediately. She was communicating silently with her mother and uncle.

"Jaina?"

Jaina glanced up at her. "Padmé, did you realize that you're carrying twins?"

Padmé's expression turned to ice. "How did you know that?" she demanded coldly.

"I can sense –"

"Enough of your… your _sensing!"_ Padmé cried sharply, putting a protective hand on her expanding belly. "I don't know who you are, but you are invading my privacy. Leave, Jaina! You are not welcome here!"

Jaina stood up, staring at her suddenly enraged grandmother with shock. She was too surprised to be angry and too happy at meeting her grandmother to be annoyed.

"Fine," she said calmly. "I'll leave. And I'm sorry, Padmé. Thank you for lunch."

She could feel Padmé's burning eyes on her back as Ellé escorted her out of the apartment.


	14. Information Divulged

**CHAPTER XIV**

**Information Divulged**

When Jaina returned to the Jedi Temple, her mind was afire. The most reputed and prominent politician of this pre-Empire galaxy, Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo, was her grandmother. She had just met her _maternal grandmother_, a woman she would never have known if she hadn't had this chance to travel into the past. She was filled with a strange mixture of shock, wonder and joy. However, the fact that Padmé was only a few years older than herself brought an abrupt halt to her strange marvel as she was again reminded of the peculiarities of time travel. It was very much like the time when she had first seen Anakin, her grandfather.

What was even odder than the fact that Jaina and her grandmother were so close in age was that Padmé was pregnant with her _mother._ That was her _mother_, an unborn child. Jaina shuddered and tried not to think about it. It was almost too much oddity to wrap her mind around for the moment.

As Jaina walked through the wide main halls of the Jedi Temple, ignoring the sights that she had been gaping at before in amazement, she remembered the days when she tried to imagine what her grandmother was like. She had always pictured someone like her mother with a bit of her Uncle Luke. The woman she had imagined was kind and gentle. Her _real_ grandmother was someone almost entirely different from the figment of a young girl's imagination. She was, it was true, like Leia – there was no denying it. Padmé's loyalty to the Galaxy had been passed down to her daughter; they were both Senators, strong women readily involved with the politics of the world. Padmé was intelligent, she was shrewd – there had been a lot more going on in their conversation than it had appeared. Padmé had been testing her, studying her reactions, subtly trying to discover who she was. Jaina knew that. Jaina had been doing the same.

"Where have you been?" Kyp's voice exclaimed angrily, interrupting her thoughts. "I've been looking all over for you!"

Jaina looked up and found her friend standing in front of her. "I've—"

"I've just been stuck in the Archives," Kyp growled, looking livid. "I swear I never want to speak to that librarian ever again—"

"I've just had a chat with my grandmother," Jaina said, interrupting Kyp's tirade.

He blinked. "You what?"

Jaina smiled slightly. "I found her. I found my grandmother – Anakin's wife."

Kyp raised his eyebrows. "Oh." He looked quizzically at her. "Are you sure?"

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Of course I am! Believe me, it'd be a little difficult not to realize who she is if you're from _my_ family at this point in time."

Kyp stared at her blankly.

"She's pregnant!" Jaina hissed, astounded at Kyp's current stupidity. "With my _mother and uncle."_

Kyp looked at her with a very funny expression on his face and then he burst out laughing. He shook his head, grinning. "You have no idea how weird that sounds – especially if you didn't know the context."

Jaina grinned. "Believe me, I can imagine."

They walked together down the hall, quietly observing the other Jedi going about on their own business. As the Old Republic Jedi milled around them, concentrating on their own business, it seemed to Jaina that they had somehow adapted to their presence already. No one was paying attention to them – which perfectly suited Jaina as she didn't really want anyone listening in on their conversation.

"So, who is she?" Kyp asked. "Who's your grandmother?"

"You're not going to believe this," Jaina told him, still grinning. "It's such a weird coincidence, but with my family it makes perfect sense. She's the Senator of Naboo, Padmé Amidala."

Kyp stopped walking and stared at her blankly. Then he snorted and broke out laughing again. "You have _got_ to be kidding."

"I'm not!" Jaina exclaimed. "I'm serious, she is!"

Kyp made a face. "There's more than just that coincidence to it, Jaina," he said. "I've heard of Padmé Amidala; the Jedi mention her quite frequently. Apparently she's a very important member of the Senate. Not only that, she's been leading a high profile life for quite some time. Did you know that she was elected as Queen of Naboo at age fourteen?"

Jaina turned and gaped at him. "What?" She blinked in surprised. "No. _No,_ that is way too much of a…" She sighed and rolled her eyes. "What is it with this family? My mother's the Princess of Alderaan and now my grandmother's the Queen of Naboo!"

"That makes you doubly royal, Goddess," Kyp said, winking. "I am glad to meet your acquaintance, your Majesty." He made a mock bow.

"Shut up," Jaina said acidly.

"And while you were ignoring me in the Archives and visiting your dearest royal grandmother," Kyp continued, "I met someone of interest."

"Oh?" Jaina said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yoda," Kyp said. "And he said something very odd when I was talking to him."

Jaina's eyes narrowed. "What was it?"

"Something about the Dark Side."

Jaina snorted. "Is that all the Jedi _ever_ talk about these days?"

"Let me finish," Kyp interrupted her, ignoring her question. "It wasn't so much as what he said, but the way he acted when I told him about Augustine."

"You _told_ Yoda about Augustine?" Jaina exclaimed.

"We have to break it to them sometime," Kyp shot back. "Might as well start now, even just a little bit."

"You changed your mind on that pretty quick," Jaina growled in a low voice. Kyp ignored her.

"But Jaina, from the way he acted, I'm almost _positive_ that Yoda knew, or knows, him. I sensed something, I don't know _what_ though. Something's telling me that Yoda knows about _us._"

"And if he knows Augustine," Jaina said quickly, taping her fingers together, "then he knows about time travel. Which means –"

"Exactly."

They exchanged looks.

"Is it okay to blow our cover?" Jaina asked, although she knew already how Kyp was going to answer.

Kyp shrugged. "Yoda, only, I think. It's too soon to mention it to anyone else. They'd send us to some psychological prison camp or whatever they have here."

Jaina snorted. "Psychological prison camp? Where do you get these ideas, laser brains?"

Kyp spread his hands, trying to look innocent and failing miserably.

"Anyways," Jaina continued, "I found out something interesting in the Archives."

"Heh," Kyp grunted. "So did _I._ I just spent hours in the Archives staring at computer screens."

"Well, on the other hand _I_ actually read something when I was in the Archives, instead of staring at screens," Jaina retorted. "Did you know that Obi-Wan's master was a guy named Qui-Gon Jinn? He died about thirteen years ago on Naboo _and_ he was the one who found Anakin on Tatooine."

Kyp raised an eyebrow. "I did not know that." He looked suspiciously at Jaina. "Tatooine? Really? That's one more weird coincidence to add to the list."

Jaina made a face. "Maybe it's the Force's idea of a joke."

Kyp's face broke into a grin and they laughed as they continued on their way up to their own quarters in the Jedi Temple.

* * *

It was evening on Coruscant. The sky was a delicate shade of pink, splashed with gold and light orange. It was a very calming sunset, even though it was highlighted by the immense buildings of Coruscant's upper levels and the various pockets of nighttime traffic.

Anakin saw that she was waiting for him by one of her vast windows, staring out into the distance. As he approached, his angel turned around and smiled one of her vivacious smiles of love.

"Anakin," she murmured.

He strode over to her and hugged her tight. "Padmé," he breathed her name into her hair before drawing back and kissing her tenderly.

The romantic atmosphere was suddenly ruined as Padmé winced. "Anakin, please don't hug me so tight that you'll break my ribs. I'd rather like to have them in one piece."

Anakin drew back sharply and Padmé laughed.

"What?" he asked.

"You," she said, brushing a lock of stray hair aside. "You're so…" Her voice trailed away.

Anakin looked at her quizzically. "I'm so what?"

Padmé glanced away. "Nothing."

She didn't say anything else as she resumed gazing out her window. Something was wrong, Anakin thought. She was hiding something from him.

What could it possibly be? Secrets and lies… that was not what their relationship should be built on. Padmé would never lie to him. Whatever it was, she was going to tell him.

"Padmé, are you all right?" he asked her, trying to sound gentle but there was a hint of steel in his voice.

She turned and looked at him. Her expression was a bit sad. "No," she murmured. "Not really."

"Come on," Anakin urged, "what does 'not really' mean?"

Padmé faced her husband with an expression of steel. "It means 'not really.'"

"Padmé."

She did not respond.

Anakin resisted the urge to shake her. She had been so happy only a moment before. What had caused this strange mood swing? He put a hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

"Tell me," he said quietly.

She glanced at him, her brown eyes very wide and very sad. "I miss my family."

Anakin sighed. "Yes, I know. You've told me that hundreds of times." He watched her for a moment – she wasn't replying to him. Instead, she glanced away, looking out her window at Coruscant's busy skies.

Anakin bit his lip. "Do you want to see them?" he asked.

Padmé glanced at him and lowered her eyes. "Yes," she murmured softly. "I want to see my sister. I want to see my nieces." She looked up and locked eyes with him. "I want to tell my parents."

"About what?" Anakin asked, feeling that he knew what was coming.

Padmé shook her head, her eyes wide with disbelief at his question. "About _us."_

Anakin stood still. _I was wondering how long it would take for her to say that._

"You can tell them," he said. "I don't care about what happens after; tell them everything. It's your decision Padmé."

Padmé looked away. "I can't," she murmured. "I want to, but I…" She closed her eyes. "Did you know that we're having twins?"

"WHAT?!"

Anakin almost swayed in shock. He blinked; he was almost sure he had misheard her. All the thoughts that had preoccupied him today, all the thoughts about what Palpatine had told him that he was trying his best to bury, were suddenly wiped away. He sat down. Twins… he couldn't believe it. Two children. Not one child, but two. And this would all be happening so soon. Joy and pride bounded through him.

"You didn't know," Padmé said quietly.

Anakin looked up and over his shoulder at her. "No," he said. "I can't sense two children. I swear didn't know. How did you find out?"

Padmé's expression tightened. She avoided eye contact with him. "I spoke to Jaina Solo today."

"What?" Anakin felt himself freeze. How could she do that? Hadn't he told her that there was a possibility that Solo was dangerous?

"Anakin, how many times are you going to say the word 'what' in one conversation?" Padmé asked him, half exasperatedly, half teasingly.

"When did you talk to her?" Anakin demanded

"This afternoon," Padmé replied. "I invited her for lunch."

"Why?" Anakin asked, his voice tense. "Don't you know that—"

"Anakin," Padmé interrupted, her eyes hardening. "I did some of my own investigating. You told me that there was the possibility of them being Sith. I wanted to know for myself. You keep talking about Jaina Solo; you keep mentioning her and how bizarre she and her companion are. I wanted to know why; I wanted my own opinions."

Anakin smiled. That was his wife, all right.

"You didn't have to do that," Anakin said.

"No," Padmé agreed, "but I wanted to."

"And what's your conclusion?"

Padmé pursed her lips. "They can't be Sith, Anakin. They just can't be. There's no way they can be. The Jedi _should_ trust them. Your Sith Lord is somewhere else. I brought the subject up with her and I know from her reaction that they just can't be Sith. Politics has given me enough training to read people's reactions. I know what I saw."

Anakin closed his eyes. The feeling buried deep inside him, his subconscious acknowledgment of Solo and Durron, that sense that told him that they were all right, that he should trust them, sang true. Anakin believed Padmé. He didn't want to – he was still suspicious – but those two, strange Jedi were the ones he had to trust. He knew it.

But that didn't mean that he would accept it.

"What are they _doing_ here?" Anakin exclaimed, frustrated. If his subconscious self was telling him to trust them, then what should he trust them _with?_ What were they trying to do?

"I don't know," Padmé said. "It's a mystery that I want to solve myself."

Anakin stood up and turned around. He hugged Padmé gently. He couldn't stay frustrated or angry with her for long. "Then we'll solve it," he whispered.

Padmé smiled lightly. "Thank you. I want to know as much as you do."

They turned and faced the windows, watching the sunset together. Unbidden, Obi-Wan's voice resounded in Anakin's mind.

_Be wary of Palpatine._

_I will,_ he told the voice. _I'll be more careful. For the sake of both my children._

Then another thought struck him.

_Why would Jaina Solo sense that Padmé's having twins?!_


	15. The Council's Decision

**CHAPTER XV**

**The Council's Decision**

Anakin,_ the voices murmured. _Anakin. Help us.

_He __was swimming in whiteness once again._

Anakin! _The voices sounded more insistent. _Hurry! Help us!

Where are you? _he asked silently. _What are you?

Does it matter? _the voices replied. _Come! Hurry!

I'm trying to, _Anakin said. _I can't see… where am I going?

Help us! Help us! Hurry up – help us!

_Anakin struggled through the whiteness. He couldn't see, couldn't feel. His senses were completely obscured. He could only hear. He heard__ his footsteps on the durasteel floor of some room. He heard the voices calling his name over and over again. They called for help._

_A cry pierced__ the whiteness, louder than any of the other sounds. _

"_Anakin, help me!"_

_He recognized that voice. It wa__s Jaina Solo's. _

_He stumbled forwards. "Where?" he heard himself ask, desperately. "Where are you?"_

"_Hurry!" Solo yelled_

_The voices were hissing at him. _Run… run… before it's too late.

_He ran__ blindly through the whiteness. _

"_ANAKIN!"_

_The whiteness snapped as if the scream broke it. Anakin could see. He didn't know where he was – a dark forest, with tangled branches and knotted roots. He stood in a clearing, sunk ankle-deep in mud. It was raining, drenching him and the land around him. _

_There was the wreckage of a ship in the clearing, large and white. He could only see part of it; the ship was scarred with scorch marks and flames licked its sides. Parts of it had been broken or had been blasted off and were lying on the ground. He began running towards it to investigate. Suddenly, he stopped and stared in horror._

_Something was trapped under a broken part of the ship, lying as still as death as the flames jump and leap around it. _

_It was the body of an angel. _

His _angel. _

_Padmé was dead, her face and upper body just visible under the wreckage. There was blood on her cheeks and spattered across her shirt. The fire illuminated her face, cold and peaceful and utterly lifeless. _

_He screamed._

_Horror. _

_Despair. _

You did it, _the voices accused. _You did it yourself.

_Horror. _

_Despair. _

_Darkness._

Anakin's eyes snapped open. Sweat streaked his brow and he was panting as if he had just ran a grueling race. He sat up and looked around. He was in their bedroom, the darkness surrounding him simply the dark of night.

Normal darkness.

He glanced to his side. Padmé was safe, sleeping soundly.

Anakin closed his eyes and lay back down gratefully. There was no need to worry Padmé about his dream. He was back in reality. Reality was controllable – he wouldn't let anything happen to her, no matter what it cost. He would not let the same fate that befell his mother happen to Padmé.

* * *

_Moving air. Wind. It brushed__ pleasantly at her face. Jaina stood at the top of the world, though which world, she had no idea. She was on a mountain of some kind. She could see a valley below, covered with trees and beautiful vegetation. It was very peaceful on this mountain top, gazing down at the most lovely valley she had ever seen. _

_Tranquility. It had been a long time since she had__ known it. _

_There wa__s someone standing beside her, his hand on her shoulder. She turned her head and smiled. _

_It was Kyp and it seemed very logical to her that he would be there, beside her. He wa__s, after all, her companion in their travels in time. _

_Suddenly, the mountain disappeared. The wind whistled._

_The tranquility shattered_

_Jaina fell_

_Falling. _

_She could__ feel the wind – the _world_ itself – spinning around her as she fell. She could see nothing, except a small dark spot growing larger and larger until…_

_It was a hooded and cloaked man, but he was laughing a cold, cruel laugh. Jaina sensed __she should know this person and shuddered, repulsed. Who was it?_

_The image disappeared and s__he landed. Jaina didn't know where she was. Darkness closed in on her, so realistic that it was almost tangible. She shuddered. This was dreamland. _

_In dreamland, nightmares lived. _

_A lightsaber's glow sliced__ through the darkness. _

_In dreamland, there were__ also nightmarish monsters. _

_She blinked, seeing him only for a moment. A pale face with wide grey eyes that seemed to penetrate her soul... Eyes that could see straight into the depths of everything -- into the depths of time itself. The man raised a pale hand, beckoning to her – and then everything dissolved in a whirlwind of colour. She screamed. _

Jaina woke up with a start. Her eyes stared blankly into her plain, white ceiling above her bed. She was breathing so hard she was almost panting. It took her a moment to get her thoughts straight. _What_ a strange dream. While she was used to dreams – dreams even odder and more pointless than this one – the dream that she had just had was more vivid in her memory than any other. Normally they faded as soon as she woke up, but this one was content to stay fresh in her mind.

_Who was that man? _she asked herself. _Palpatine?_ She rolled over, intent on going back to sleep, but glanced at her chrono. It read 0630 hours. It was time to get up. She sat up, swinging her legs over the side of her bed. Perhaps her imagination was becoming over-active… After all, the dream made not sense whatsoever. As she gathered several items together and walked towards her refresher, she another thought came unbidden into her mind.

_Why does Kyp __keep appearing in my dreams?_

It was silly. She knew perfectly well what connotations that dreaming of people of the opposite gender had – particular people of the opposite gender she knew very well. And _that_ was absolutely out of line. She knew, just as Kyp knew, that they were nothing more than partners. Whatever her subconsciousness was trying to tell her, she was going to ignore it because it was _wrong. _

Heaving a sigh, she put Kyp and her dream out of her mind and headed for the shower.

* * *

It was hardly mid-day yet and already Anakin was furious. As the doors to the Jedi Council Chamber swung forwards to admit him, he fervently pushed away the resentment boiling in his chest, repeating over and over again that he was _not_ angry. However, there still remained the fact that they had not showed him the proper respect that he, a hero of the Republic, deserved. He had stood there, outside the doors he was walking through right now, for a very long time, with nothing to occupy his mind except for staring at the ceiling. It seemed like ages that he had been standing their, waiting for them to make one _stupid_ decision, glaring through the smudged glass of the High Council Tower's window at the skyline of Galactic City.

_One _tiny_ decision shouldn't have taken so long_, Anakin thought angrily as he walked through the double doors and into the Council Chamber. _It's obvious what the answer _should_ be…_

The decision that the oh-so-wise Jedi Council had spent the last few hours pondering was very simple. Palpatine had, as he had told Anakin before, requested that _he_ be granted a seat at the Council as the Chancellor's personal representative. If Anakin had had his way, he would have been on the Council _years_ ago. They needed him and that was obvious enough. To have the Jedi Council spent several _hours_ discussing Palpatine's request was… obnoxious.

Anakin pushed his irate thoughts away as he moved into the centre of the Council Chamber under the eye of the Senior Members. Yoda was there, completely unreadable, sitting serenely in his seat. Mace Windu's stoney expression looked at Anakin while projections of Ki-Adi Mundi and Plo Koon, who were both on missions off-world, hovered above their own spots. Agen Kolar sat alone. The seats of Shaak Ti and Stass Allie were ghostly empty. Obi-Wan sat in his own chair, looking pensive with a slightly worried frown furrowing his brow.

"Anakin Skywalker," Mace Windu greeted him gravely. "The Council has decided to comply with Chancellor Palpatine's directive, and with the instructions of the Senate that give him the unprecedented authority to command this Council. You are hereby granted a seat at the High Council of the Jedi, as the Chancellor's personal representative."

Wild joy began to fluttered within him – this had been his dream for many years, being a part of this Council. The Jedi Masters had finally recognized him for what he was; a strong Jedi, with many accomplishments, powerful dedication, and talent.

"Thank you, Masters," Anakin said, trying to keep his abundant joy from bouncing off the walls. "You have my pledge that I will uphold the highest principles of the Jedi Order."

"Allow this appointment lightly, the Council does not," Yoda's accusing voice interrupted sharply. "Disturbing, this move by Chancellor Palpatine is. On many levels."

Anakin stood very still. Yoda had a point – but in the wrong way. Palpatine's interest in the Sith was much more disturbing than his wanting of Anakin to be on the Jedi Council. A subconscious thought that told him that something was wrong – very wrong – with Palpatine troubled Anakin much more than Yoda's line about his appointment to the Council.

"I understand," Anakin told the Masters, bowing his head.

"I'm not sure you do," Mace Windu said, looking sternly at Anakin. "You will attend the meetings of this Council, but you will not be granted the rank and privileges of a Jedi Master."

There was a blank silence.

"What?"

The anger in his chest, the annoyance at being kept outside for such a long time, flared at this announcement. Anakin could not believe what he had just heard.

In fact, he didn't believe what _he_ himself sounded like. His voice was unrecognizable – smoking with fury, a dark and savage sound.

"How dare you? _How dare you?!"_ Anakin stood very still, glaring at each of them. His fury was threatening to break through his chest. "No Jedi in this room can match my power – no Jedi in the _Galaxy!_ You think you can deny Mastery to _me?"_

"The Chancellor's representative you are," Yoda interrupted calmly, but there was a hint of steel in his voice. "And it is as his representative you shall attend the Council. Sit in this Chamber you will, but no vote will you have. The Chancellor's views you shall present. His wishes. His ideas and directives. Not your own."

Anakin breathed heavily as his smothered his anger. "This is an insult to me, and to the Chancellor," he said coldly. "Do not imagine that it will be tolerated."

"Take your seat, young Skywalker." Mace Windu's voice was like ice.

Anakin glared. If they thought they could take this honour from him…

"Anakin." It was Obi-Wan's voice. "Please." He gestured to the seat beside him.

Hearing his old Master's voice, speaking to him as if he were a child again, a rash Padawan, suddenly made Anakin feel very foolish. His anger subsided into something almost worse – shame and embarrassment. He felt his cheeks flushing.

"Forgive me, Masters," he said quietly, bowing his head, wishing he could hide his embarrassment.

Anakin sat in a daze through the rest of the session. He dimly listened to the various Masters discuss issues about the war, how everything was calming down. He was still furious with the Council's decision to keep him from Mastery, and yet he was furious with himself for behaving so foolishly.

In time, the Council would come to regret keeping him from Mastery. He would show them that he deserved his place on the Council.

He would show them.

* * *

It was times like these when Anakin's anger seemed to consume him that Obi-Wan became very nervous. He had known for a very long time – ever since Anakin had been his Padawan – that Anakin did not have a very good grip on his emotions. Sometimes the slightest thing could set him off; at other times, he had the right to be angry.

However, this was not one of those times. The Council's decision not to grant Anakin mastery was well founded – though he might be a powerful Jedi, Anakin had not matured enough to fully comprehend the responsibilities that came with being part of the Council and a Master. His decisions were frequently driven completely by his emotions – which was not a good trait when those decisions affected the entire Jedi Order and those affiliated with it.

That fact seemed to be something Anakin was completely unaware of.

"The Council is wrong," Anakin was saying heatedly as they walked down the hall away from the Jedi Council chamber. "There is no reason why I shouldn't be granted mastery."

Obi-Wan resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Anakin," he said calmly, "have you ever stopped to think of the responsibilities you would have if you were a Master?"

"_Yes,"_ Anakin grunted. "And I'm willing to accept all of the responsibilities that come with mastery."

"Are you really?" Obi-Wan began, slightly exasperated, but his words were drowned out by Anakin's vehement retort.

"Do you think I'm not ready to be a Master?" Anakin bit out.

"In truth," Obi-Wan answered, "I say no. And before you get angry at me, I want you to think _rationally._ You're still young – there will come a time when you will be every bit worthy of Mastery, but that time is not now. You're on the Council at the Chancellor's request, not because of the deeds you have done, no matter how great and numerous they are." And if you could see that, just for once, Obi-Wan wanted to add, then everything would be so much easier.

Anakin snorted, looking disgruntled. "Am I suppose to accept that as an answer?" he retorted scathingly. "We've still got a war to fight."

"A war which will end sooner than later," Obi-Wan told him firmly, but Anakin appeared not to have heard him.

"I've got ideas, Obi-Wan," he said, his eyes glinting. "I have all the talents to lead a successful mission that will end this war for good. I can help!"

"And that you will be doing," Obi-Wan replied.

"But with the rank of Master I could be doing even more—"

"Anakin," Obi-Wan interrupted, "you don't need the rank of Master to serve the Jedi and the Republic."

Anakin made a hissing noise and threw his hands up in the air. "Will you ever give me a straight answer, Obi-Wan?" he said angrily. "This is outrageous. How can you be on the Council and _not_ be a Master?"

_Is it always going to come back to this?_ Obi-Wan asked himself. Anakin was quite obviously deeply insulted; he wasn't going to leave the subject alone.

"The Council's decision not to grant you mastery was due partially to your friendship with Palpatine," Obi-Wan told his fuming friend firmly. "That very same friendship that got you a seat at the Council will never make you a Master. The truth of the matter is that you are too close to Palpatine and the Council does not trust him."

Anakin scowled at him and turned away, gazing out one of the windows at the Coruscant skies that teemed with traffic.

"There's something else," he said slowly, irritation and rage still edged on his words. "Something the Council – something _you_ are hiding from me. I can feel it."

Obi-Wan sighed and quickly glanced around the hall and found it was empty. There wasn't a chance of anyone overhearing what he was about to say.

"The Council," he told Anakin quietly, "approved your appointment because Palpatine trusts you."

Anakin snorted. "That statement goes and contradicts what you just told me about the Council not granting me mastery."

"Never mind that, Anakin," Obi-Wan said firmly. "Because of your position, the Council wants you to report on all of Palpatine's dealings. They have to know what he's up to."

Anakin whipped around from the window and stared incredulously at Obi-Wan. "They want me to _spy on the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic?"_ he half-shouted. "That's treason!"

Obi-Wan winced. When he had agreed to deliver Anakin's assignment to him on behalf of the Council, he knew that it wouldn't end well.

"We're at war, Anakin," he said solemnly.

Anakin rolled his eyes. "A war which is _just about over_," he snapped. "As the Council was so fond of discussing earlier. I'm sorry, I can't – I _won't_ do it."

Obi-Wan groaned. He had underestimated just how vehemently his old friend was going to react to his new obligation. "Even so, the war is _not_ over. There are still many Jedi abroad and many planets to re-conquer from the Separatists." He paused, wishing that Anakin would listen to him without retorts or complaints. "The Council is sworn to uphold the principles of the Republic through any means necessary – especially when the greatest enemy of those principles seems to be Palpatine himself! He's been holding on to power for years, gaining more and more support for his position and yet even as the war seems to be finishing, he is showing no signs of letting that power go."

Anakin frowned, his eyes narrowing. "Why didn't the Council give me this assignment while we were in session?" he asked sharply.

"Because it's not for the record, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "You _must_ be able to understand why. The Council asked me to approach you on this personally."

"The Chancellor isn't a bad man," Anakin said grimly. "He befriended me – I've known him for years! He's watched out for me ever since I arrived here." He paused. "He's my _friend_, Obi-Wan."

"Yes," Obi-Wan replied softly. "I know."

"If _he_ asked me to spy on _you,_ do you think I would do it?"

Obi-Wan felt his stomach clench. He couldn't help but feel guilty – guilty for asking Anakin to betray one of his friends, guilty for even daring to bring Anakin to this point. But he had to do it – for the sake of the Jedi, for everyone around them, they needed the information that Anakin could provide.

"You know how kind he's been to me," Anakin said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "He's like my _family."_

"The Jedi are your family—" Obi-Wan tried to say, but Anakin wasn't listening.

"No!" he cried. "No. The Jedi are _your_ family. They're the only one you've ever known. But me… I'm not _like_ the rest of you. I had a family. I had a _mother_, who _loved_ me."

Anakin's face had contorted into a pained look. Obi-Wan immediately regretted even mentioning the word 'family' – what Anakin said was true; he _hadn't_ been like the others. The word 'family' had a different meaning for him, one that was full of love and pain and everything inbetween.

"Do you _remember_ my mother?" Anakin continued, his voice still hushed, but filled with pain and loss. "Do you remember what happened to her? What they did to her? How I could have _saved_ her?"

Obi-Wan lowered his head. His old Padawan was so lost, still wallowing in grief after all these years. He wondered is he ever regretted going with Qui-Gon that far gone day on dusty Tatooine. "Of course. Yes, Anakin. I do remember your mother… and you know how sorry I am for her. But listen – the Council isn't asking you to act against Palpatine. We're only asking you to monitor his activities. You _must_ believe me."

Anakin's eyes flashed dangerously. "No."

Obi-Wan breathed deeply. There was nothing else for it – if Anakin knew what they had discovered before the battle over Coruscant…

"Palpatine himself may be in danger," he said slowly. "This may be the only way you can help him."

Anakin's eyes narrowed, looking suspicious. "What are you talking about?" he asked hesitantly.

"I am not supposed to be telling you this," Obi-Wan said quietly. "Please do not reveal we have had this conversation – to _anyone_, do you understand?"

Anakin paused, looking cautiously at him for a moment. "I can keep a secret."

"All right." Obi-Wan paused. "Master Windu traced Darth Sidious to Five Hundred Republica before Grievous' attack – we think that the Sith Lord is someone within Palpatine's closest circle of advisers. _That_ is who we want you to spy on, do you understand? If Palpatine is under the influence of a Sith Lord –"

The words fell short in Obi-Wan's mouth. Someone had rounded the corner – the last person he wanted to hear this conversation: Jaina Solo. Worry struck him – how much had she heard?

Solo looked startled to see both of them standing there, but she walked over purposefully. Anakin eyed her suspiciously – there was a very mistrusting look in his expression. It seemed to Obi-Wan that his old Padawan still thought of Jaina as a potential Sith in disguise.

"I'm sorry," Jedi Solo said brightly. "There was no one else around and I heard your voices. I heard that there was a meeting just now and I was wondering about the progress of the… um… Mid-Rim Sieges?"

Anakin shot a dubious look at Obi-Wan.

"I believe you mean the _Outer-Rim_ Sieges, right?" Anakin asked, eyeing Solo apprehensively.

Solo winced. "Oh, yes," she said quickly. The corners of her lips turned upwards in a bright smile as she recovered from her mistake. "Outer-Rim, sorry – that's what I meant."

Her fingers were twisting and untwisting very quickly, as if she was nervous. Behind the mask of her cheerful smile, Obi-Wan thought he detected a trace of… fear? Anxiety? He glanced at Anakin, exchanging skeptical looks.

Anakin shrugged and turned back to Solo. "Well…" He paused. "There isn't much that hasn't changed. The war is still going on. No planets have fallen. With luck, this war could be over in six months."

Solo nodded slowly – she didn't seem to be paying any attention to Anakin's words. Instead, she was looking directly at him, watching his every movement. There was an odd look in her eyes. Her fingers continued to twist together.

"Oh… all right." Then she smiled brightly. "Thanks. That's all I wanted to know. I'll see you later, I guess."

With that, she darted off down the hall, her pace almost like that of a spy who had just narrowly avoided revealing their identity.

Anakin stared after her. _"Mid-Rim Sieges?"_ he muttered. "What planet does she come from?"

Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair. Even though Solo and Durron had explained where they had come from – and he was inclined to believe them, for now – they had to have spent enough time in the eventful part of the Galaxy to know exactly what had been going on with the war, at least enough to know the names of the various battles and campaigns.

This was most bewildering.

A feeling of suspicion began to creep up on Obi-Wan. He shivered. What if his initial impressions of their new Jedi were incorrect? What if Solo and Durron were here for another purpose – a purpose they hadn't revealed to anyone, a reason or a mission they were keeping secret at all costs? True, their original story had been plausible. However, it was also highly unlikely and it wasn't exactly the best cover story. Nevertheless, it had convinced him that they didn't pose any threats.

Now he wasn't so sure. The way Solo had been looking at Anakin – it was almost as if she was trying to figure out what he was thinking, as if she recording his emotions. What if she had a dark plan hidden beneath all of her intricate little stories? Why was she really here?

He was going to have to find out – and soon.

"Master?" Anakin's voice inquired.

"Yes?" Obi-Wan responded.

"Why do I have the feeling that something weird is going on here?" Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan glanced at him. "I have that feeling, too. Something is very much out of place."

"Probably has something to do with the _Mid-Rim Sieges,"_ Anakin muttered, his eyes narrowing on the spot where Jaina Solo had disappeared around the corner.

* * *

Many light-years away, an unnatural wind was stirring the leaves of a heavily vegetated forest. The wind was little more than a breeze, but it was carried far, coming down from the mountains that towered over the forest. It carried with it the sickening stench of death.

The forest was silent, devoid of any movements. There were no birds in the trees, no mammals on the ground. The trees swayed gently in the breeze, but even they seemed to be frightened by the dark creature that had passed through their forest several nights before, consuming every living creature in its path.

Even the trees were afraid of what was rising under the shadow of the mountains to the north.


	16. Threats

**CHAPTER XVI**

**Threats**

Morning on Coruscant always brought some memories of home to Jaina Solo. The sun was painting the sky shades of pink and gold, exactly the same way it did – would – when she was little. It had a serene quality – something that she desperately needed these days. However, despite the fact that she had slept fairly well last night, she was feeling more than a little bit jumpy. Even watching something as peaceful as a sunrise did little to help her calm down.

She had a very strange feeling this morning, almost as if something had happened or would happen. She didn't have any idea what that something was, but she could sense that it could either be very good, or very bad – or both.

Perhaps the feeling was an effect of the strange dream she had had the night before. It hadn't been a concrete dream; it was more effectively described as a very strong sense of coming doom attached to images. However, the flashes of pictures she had seen while she dreamed were of nothing she recognized – a dark forest, thick and tangled with giant trees and ferns. They were nothing like the ones that had sprung up on the terra-formed Yuuzhan Vong Coruscant. This was more of an Endor-like forest, not a jungle; but she knew for a fact that it _wasn't_ Endor.

Jaina stared out the window, gazing at the traffic as it zoomed by the Jedi Temple. This world was so different from the one she knew. Though she had been here for many days now, the fact that she really _had_ time traveled still hadn't quite hit her. Several mornings in a row, she had wakened expecting to find herself back at home and then panicked when she saw her still unfamiliar room in the Jedi Temple. There was always a short, awful period of time when she thought she had been captured while on a mission before she reminded herself where she was. From time to time, as she traced her way around the Jedi Temple, it seemed like she was suspended in a dream. This world from the past was so surreal to her.

_Stars, what am I doing here?_ Jaina thought. _Will Kyp and I end up changing the galaxy? What happens when we go home – if we ever get home?_

Suddenly, she was wrapped in memories of home. The days before that dreadful one when they discovered Palpatine and Jacen died; the days before the Yuuzhan Vong war and before Anakin died; when everything was an adventure, her, with her family, together. There were flashes of her friends, of Zekk, Tenel Ka, Lusa, Raynar and Lowbacca; flashes of the happy times she had spent with Jag; flashes of Aunt Mara, of Uncle Luke, of her parents.

It wasn't like that now. It could never be. She was trapped in the past until she did what she had come to do. She would never see them again unless Anakin Skywalker was saved – and she might even die in the process. Even if she managed to stay alive, nothing would ever be the same. It was entirely probable that she could return to her own time and find her parents to be completely different people from the ones she knew and loved.

The sun had come up. A new day had dawned. It was another day to work on getting closer to Anakin and Obi-Wan, to get herself in a position to help Anakin when he needed help, to shield him from the Dark side.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Jaina had met Kyp in one of the halls of the Jedi Temple. They were walking through the corridors, talking quietly, always keeping a careful eye on the Jedi that passed them so that they wouldn't be overheard.

"_Mid-Rim_ Sieges?" Kyp asked, an eyebrow raised. His expression flickered between amusement and annoyance. Jaina could tell that he wasn't in a good mood today.

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Shut up. I couldn't think."

"Really?" Kyp asked sarcastically. "You were just so surprised to find both of them standing there that you got even the simplest thing wrong?"

"_Yeah,_" Jaina snapped. "But before you launch into another session of poking fun at me, I _did_ learn something important."

Kyp glanced at her. "Oh? And what's that, Goddess?"

"I overheard Anakin and Obi-Wan arguing," Jaina told him rapidly. "At first it sounded like they were discussing his mother – Anakin's, that is – because Anakin kept saying things like 'do you even remember her?' I'm not sure what that was about, or even if it was important, but then Obi-Wan sounded like he was trying to convince Anakin to do something. Some secret assignment, but the thing is, it has to do with Palpatine."

Kyp's eyes widened. "You're serious?"

Jaina nodded severely. "Yes. Whatever that assignment is, we need to find out exactly what he's doing and we need to watch him." She bit her lip. "Why are they placing him so close to Palpatine?" she exclaimed angrily. "I swear they know that it's not a good idea!"

Kyp shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe we can call it off or something…"

"Yeah," Jaina murmured. "But how?" She frowned. "Anyways… from what I heard, it sounds like Mace Windu – you remember him, right?"

Kyp scowled. "Yeah. Big bald guy. I didn't like his attitude."

Jaina smirked. "Yeah, that's him. Apparently he traced Darth Sidious – who we _know_ is Palpatine – to Five Hundred Republica sometime before Grievous attacked. That has led the Council to think that Darth Sidious is someone in Palpatine's inner circle."

Kyp barked a short laugh. "Great. Talk about misconceptions."

"Well they can't exactly point at their Chancellor guy and say 'you're a Sith Lord!'" Jaina remarked, making a face.

Kyp's expression contorted at this. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he seemed to change his mind as he closed it again.

"You know something else?" Jaina continued.

"What?"

"I was at Five Hundred Republica the other day," she told him. "Padmé's apartment is there."

Kyp raised his eyebrows. "I wonder if they're connected. Could Palpatine have an influence on Anakin through your grandmother?"

Jaina winced. "Please, Kyp, don't call her my grandmother. It makes me feel weird."

"Preoccupied, are you?" a little voice asked.

Jaina and Kyp spun around in surprise and found themselves looking down at the diminutive Master Yoda. He was leaning on his wooden stick, gazing up at them curiously.

"Uh… yes," Kyp said. "Yeah. We're preoccupied. Definitely. Would you excuse us?"

Yoda made a noise that might have passed for a chuckle. "Worried, you seem. Help you, may I?"

Jaina pursed her lips. Yoda was supposedly the wisest Jedi Master ever to exist. Her thoughts briefly flashed to her dream from the night before. She _knew_ there was something wrong with that dream… the uneasy feeling that had been with her ever since morning told her so. Perhaps Yoda could help?

"Yes, Master Yoda," she said. "There actually is something you can help us with."

Then, feeling that it was rude to look down at someone of such great importance, Jaina knelt on her knees so that she and Yoda were on relatively the same level. "I had a dream last night. It wasn't exactly a dream… just a feeling."

"Dreams?" Yoda murmured. "Premonitions?"

"Um… yes." Jaina frowned. "Last night I dreamed… well, not really dreamed, but I know there's something incredibly wrong. It's not here on Coruscant, but somewhere else. Somewhere with a forest. Do you have any idea what that might mean?"

Yoda was silent for a moment. He seemed to be so greatly interested in what she was saying that he didn't even realize it when she had stopped speaking.

Jaina felt Kyp touch her shoulder; she glanced up at him. His brow was furrowed in a perplexed expression. "What's this about?" he mouthed.

Jaina shrugged, shooting him a look that told him to be quiet.

Yoda eyed them curiously. "Disconcerting, these premonitions were?" he finally asked.

Jaina shook her head. "No… not really. It's just a feeling I have – like something's going to happen."

"Humph. Worry about these dreams, do not. Find the meaning of them, you will."

"But—"

Yoda shook his head and for a very small moment, he seemed to smile at her. Then he trudged passed them along the corridor Kyp and Jaina had been walking down.

"Well, that was maddeningly unhelpful," Jaina muttered under her breath.

Kyp looked irritated. His expression had clouded over. "You never mentioned premonitions," he said. "Is that all Jedi Masters talk about?" he added darkly.

Jaina sighed heavily. "Never mind. It's probably not important. Just a stupid dream. Forget that I said anything."

* * *

There was, Jaina decided, something ethereally beautiful about the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Maybe it was the way that the sound of trickling water echoed throughout the vast chamber, or perhaps it was the elegant design of the stone walkways, or the way the large amounts of beautiful plants and vegetation grew, intertwining together, breathing a life into the Force that it made her skin tingle.

It was Jaina's first visit to the Room of a Thousand Fountains – she had walked by it many times but had never actually entered. After their meeting with Yoda, Jaina and Kyp had decided they needed a long moment to discuss _everything_ – how they were going to reach out to Anakin, how they would reveal their true identities to the Jedi Council if they had to, how they were going to convince everyone that the Republic was being run by a Sith Lord… They needed to focus on their mission, and Jaina had decided that this would be the best place. Ever since they had arrived, she had been hearing stories of the calming effect the room had on every Jedi. Now that she was here, she knew exactly what the various Jedi had been talking about and she was forever grateful for the serenity this place granted her.

The chamber was large enough for Kyp and Jaina to have a large amount of space to themselves even though there was at least a dozen Jedi wandering the paths, having murmured conversations. The sound of their voices rose as a hum above the sound of trickling water from the fountains and waterfalls.

"If when we get back home, I'm going to tell Uncle Luke that he needs to build a place like this," Jaina said as she sat down on an intricately carved stone bench.

"_If_ we get back home," Kyp pointed out. He stood in front of her, his expression clouded. Over the past few hours he had been becoming moodier and angrier; even now he couldn't keep still as he was pacing rapidly in front of her.

"Aren't you the optimist," Jaina said with slight exasperation, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She crossed her legs instead, raising an eyebrow as she looked up at Kyp.

He glowered at her. "Jaina, we don't have time to optimistic. Yoda can babble all he wants about the premonitions or dreams or visions or whatever it is you're seeing, but I know, and I know _you_ know, that we're wasting time." His pacing became more rapid and he was looking agitated. "Sure, it's all grand and wonderful for _you_ to go and visit your grandmother and discover who she was – is – but meanwhile I'm out there in the Archives trying to find something, anything, that will help us. Nothing will. We need to talk to Anakin. No more hiding. We're running out of time – I can feel it."

Jaina frowned. "And what happens when we send him screaming in the opposite direction when we tell him that his best friend and mentor is a Sith Lord? We came up with this plan together, Kyp." She folded her arms obstinately. "We need to stick to it."

Kyp groaned and stopped walking for a moment to look exasperatedly at her. "Jaina, haven't you ever heard of a change of situation?"

She snorted. "Many times. I've been the _cause_ of the change of situation."

"Well, then, the situation –"

"'—has changed,'" she completed for him. "I know what you were going to say Kyp, and if you _don't_ mind, I'm inclined to disagree. Things are the same as they were before. At the moment I trust maybe two Jedi Masters in the entire Order – Yoda and Obi-Wan. If we're going to reveal ourselves, I would talk to them. _Not_ to Anakin."

Kyp looked disgruntled and he continued his pacing. "And why not just cut directly to the source of the problem? It would save us a lot of trouble –"

"But it would create more," Jaina interrupted hotly. "Anakin would _never_ believe us. He's already too suspicious of us –"

"I wonder who had something to do with _that,"_ Kyp cut across her, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Maybe visiting his wife's apartment and showing off what wonderful knowledge you have of the _Mid-Rim_ sieges contributed to his suspicions?"

Jaina exhaled sharply, irritation flashing. "Shut up, Durron," she spat. "The point _remains_ that we can't reveal who we are to Anakin." She suppressed a cold laugh. "I can just see it now – 'Hi, Anakin – just to let you know, please stay away from Palpatine because he's actually Darth Sidious and is going to turn you to the dark side so you can send the Galaxy into hell for the next twenty years. Not to mention that you're going to become half-machine pretty soon unless you do something about your Sith friend and I'm also your granddaughter from the future!'" She snorted and shook her head. "See my point yet?"

Kyp rolled his eyes. "Yes, but I don't think we'd have to tell him like _that._ There's more tactful ways to breach the issue of time travel."

"Oh, really?" Jaina asked as she arched an eyebrow.

"After all, we did believe in it before we went through a wormhole."

Jaina laughed shortly. "Yeah, but then also consider the fact that we had just come from a battle a Sith Lord…" Her voice faltered for a moment before her mind put up a protective barrier between her and the thought of Jacen's death. "Not to mention a Professor who was kind enough to instruct us about time travel. Huh." She shook her head. "Anakin doesn't have that pleasure. He gets his information from us – which would be a very bad idea."

Kyp growled and crossed his arms. "Jaina, you're being unreasonable," he snapped. "Fine – we don't have to tell Anakin directly. We'll tell Yoda – or Obi-Wan. Anakin _will_ listen to them. Whatever it is we do, we have to do it soon. We can't just sit back and relax while events continue on the same path – we're here to change them and –"

Kyp broke off suddenly and whipped around as they both heard the sound of footsteps on the path. Jaina looked to her left and saw a Jedi she knew by sight and not by name approaching them.

"Knight Durron," the Jedi said, nodding his head in Kyp's direction. "Knight Solo."

"Yes?" Kyp asked. "What do you want?" His tone was still exasperated.

The Jedi looked slightly taken aback by the ferocity of Kyp's voice.

"I have a message for you, Knight Solo," he said, ignoring Kyp and turning to Jaina.

"What is it?" Jaina asked, wondering who could possibly want to talk to her now. Perhaps it was Padmé again… or Obi-Wan. Or Anakin.

"It is from Chancellor Palpatine," the Jedi replied. "He requests that you – and you alone – come to his office immediately."

Jaina felt as though her heart had leapt into her throat. _Palpatine_ wanted to see her. Did he know? Or did he suspect something? She turned to Kyp – his face had paled considerably.

"Did the Chancellor say why?" she asked.

"No, his message does not share that information," the Jedi replied.

With that, the Jedi walked away. All of a sudden, the calming effect of the Room of a Thousand Fountains seemed to dissipate. Panic held Jaina's heart in an iron grip – she couldn't seem to be able to calm herself down. As she forced herself to breathe in and out slowly, she turned to Kyp.

"What could he want?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"I don't know," Kyp replied. "But I don't think you can get out of this. Either way, it would be good to know what the enemy is thinking. Even if knows about us and he means to threaten you, or try to scare you off – which is almost impossible, considering who he's trying to scare –"

Jaina felt the corners of her lips twitch at this comment.

"You could still pick up valuable information." Kyp paused. "Then again, maybe he knows nothing and merely wants to thank you for helping rescue him from Grievous." He shrugged. "It's impossible to tell what this particular Palpatine knows."

Jaina nodded. She glanced away for a moment, her eyes focusing on the glistening water droplets from the spray of a waterfall nearby. "This is impossible," she murmured. _"Why_ me? Why not you? Why not _both_ of us?" she added, turning to him.

He spread his hands. "Maybe he thinks you're the more dangerous one – after all, you _are_ Anakin's granddaughter."

"Yeah," Jaina replied shortly. "Because that has everything to do with it."

There was a moment of silence where they heard nothing but the trickling of water mingled with children's laughter.

"Are you going to ignore the Chancellor's request?" Kyp asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jaina smiled slightly. "No… I don't think so. If he wants to threaten me – well, I'll just keep my guard up."

Kyp had a peculiar expression on his face. "Do that," he said. "And if it comes to lightsaber fights, I swear I'm going to throw all this kriffing prophecy stuff away and kill the man myself."

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Right, that's very charming, Durron," she said acidly. "For your information, I'll try to keep it from dissolving into a battle. We know what happened last time." She smiled once and then walked slowly down the path, winding her way through the Room of a Thousand Fountains. As she walked, her footsteps sounded like the drums of destiny – nothing good would come of this meeting with her arch-enemy. She could feel it.

* * *

From the moment Jaina entered the long hallway that led to Palpatine's office, her distaste of him rose considerably. There was something ominous about the blood-red floor and walls… warning bells were going off in her head as she walked, like a condemned prisoner, towards the door that would lead her to her meeting with the Dark Lord of the Sith. She gripped her lightsaber tightly in one hand, even though it was still attached to her belt. She didn't want to appear to threaten Palpatine in case he _didn't_ know who she was, but in case things went wrong… she wanted her weapon on hand.

The door retracted almost as soon as she stood in front of it; it revealed a wide, round office that was scattered with artwork that was of the same style as the statues that were in Padmé's apartment. The red colour scheme from the hall extended into the office; there was a desk at one end and behind it were wide, transparisteel windows that overlooked the busy traffic of daytime Coruscant.

Palpatine was standing by the windows, with his back turned to her. He obviously heard her enter the room, for as soon as she was through the door, he raised a hand and the door slid shut.

_All right… he's using the Force right in front of me,_ Jaina thought. She was very aware that her heartbeat had increased and it now seemed like her heart was attempting to pound itself out of her ribcage.

_So he does know. _

"You must be wondering why I brought you here," Palpatine said. He turned his head slowly and looked over his shoulder at her. "Jaina Solo."

Jaina shuddered at the way he said her name – cold and cruel.

"Darth Sidious," Jaina replied, forcing the traces of panic out of her voice. "This is quite unexpected."

Palpatine turned around, his long robes swishing with the movement. He fixed her with a piercing stare that Jaina could not look away from. She raised her chin in defiance.

"Indeed," Palpatine replied silkily. "Imagine my astonishment when I saw the daughter of Han and Leia Solo fighting General Grievous alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi and… let me see… her _grandfather_ on board the _Invisible Hand."_

"What do you want?" Jaina asked coldly.

"To negotiate," Palpatine answered. "Under peaceful terms. That is why I did not extend my invitation to Jedi Master Kyp Durron – the conversation would become too heated with both of you. You, I believe, have the ability to hold a calmer discussion. Forgive me for not having the white flag of surrender. You have my word as the Chancellor of the Republic that I mean you no harm."

Jaina's eyes flashed. "Prove it," she hissed.

Palpatine smiled coldly. "Very well." From somewhere he produced the hilt of his lightsaber. Slowly, he walked over to her and held the hilt out to her. "Take it," he said.

Jaina hesitated; Palpatine was overly confident. If he was willingly to hand her his weapon, he _must_ have something up his sleeve, some trick. She could be easily walking right into a trap. But then, on the other hand, maybe he really did want to prove that he didn't mean her any harm. Deciding that it was impossible for her to discern a Sith Lord's reasons for his actions, she swallowed her questions and reached forwards, taking the lightsaber firmly in one hand. She shuddered involuntarily as she touched it; _this_ was the weapon that had killed Jacen. Anger boiled in her mind and she had the desire to turn and throw the lightsaber out the window, but she suppressed the urge.

Once she had taken it, Palpatine stepped back. "Now you are armed," he said, "and I am not."

Jaina's eyes narrowed. "And what about the Force lightning you can shoot from your fingertips? Or the shock waves you can produce?"

Palpatine's upper lip curled into a sneer. "Smart girl. You have my word that I will not use them," he said, inclining his head to her.

"I don't trust you," Jaina answered coolly, "and I never will, but for today I'll pretend to trust you."

"Very good, Miss Solo," Palpatine said. His voice was soft and alight with malice. "Very good."

"But I have a question for you," Jaina said, raising her voice a little.

Palpatine raised an eyebrow. "You do, do you? As fate would have it, I have a question for you as well – several, to be exact."

He turned and moved slowly to his seat behind his desk. Jaina waited silently, watching him through narrowed eyes, until he was seated and his hands were folded casually on the desk.

"Sit down," Palpatine said, waving a hand at the seat in front of his desk.

Jaina remained standing, refusing to even give him an answer. "How do you know who I am?" she asked coolly.

"I can sense a time traveler as soon as they appear in the Galaxy," Palpatine answered quietly. "Their arrival creates a certain… disturbance… in the Force that only those who have traveled through time can feel. Depending on the skill of the Force-sensitive, you can also pinpoint the exact time period from where the time travelers are arriving from. I felt you and Master Durron arrive long before I met you on Grievous' ship. I knew exactly _when_ you came from, but I wasn't yet certain of who had arrived. There were a number of possibilities – there are so many Jedi in your era – so I was still surprised when I saw you for the first time.

"You see, Jaina, I have traveled far and wide, through many time periods and through many realities. There are many things you do not know about time travel – the future is never set in stone. When traveling into the future, the things you see there could easily be wiped out as soon as you travel back to a moment in the past."

Palpatine hesitated; his lips curled into a cruel smile as he continued.

"I have seen the rise of the Hapan Empire, seven hundred years from now. I have seen the Jedi devolve into nothing more than slaves, controlled by the power of the ysalamiri. I have seen the end of the Galaxy itself, with its people struggling for life and stories of the ancient Republic little more than mythologies passed down word by word, father to sons, mothers to daughters…" He looked her directly in the eye. "I have seen many futures where you have been born, and others were you haven't. But in all the futures where you have been born, Jaina, you have always been so… spirited. Talented. Of all the people I could have wanted to discover the mysteries of time and appear _here,_ in my own period, _you_ were the one who could make it the most… interesting."

Jaina tilted her chin. Her thoughts were whirling… _why _was he trying to flatter her? If he expected these remarks to lure her into lowering her defenses, he was wrong. But then, maybe it had nothing to do with this. Maybe Palpatine did not know what would happen in his future, in the future Jaina and Kyp were attempting to change. He said that the future was not set in stone – perhaps he didn't know about the Rebellion, about Darth Vader's betrayal, about the New Jedi Order and the Yuuzhan Vong war…

"Chancellor," Jaina said, her eyes narrowed dangerously, "what is it about me that could _possibly_ interest you?"

Palpatine chuckled – a sound Jaina did not like at all. "My dear, your talents are, to put it lightly, extraordinary. After all, the granddaughter of the Chosen One must have inherited many of his abilities. And then to have you discover the mysteries of time…" He chuckled quietly, a very disturbing sound. "I can sense that you will be causing me much trouble, Jaina Solo. After all, for you to come to _this_ time can only mean one thing."

"And what would that be?"

"You are here to prevent Anakin from learning the powers of the Dark side, from becoming who he was _meant_ to be. You are tangling yourself with his fate trying to prevent what destiny has chosen for him – and that could have dire consequences for the entire Galaxy." There was a cold glint in Palpatine's eyes that Jaina did not like.

"Anakin was never meant to fall to the Dark side," Jaina growled.

Palpatine shrugged. "Ah, but to one such as I, it is not a fall. It is a chance to _learn_ about the Force, to exploit your best abilities."

"Like murdering billions of people and destroying entire planets?" Jaina spat, thinking of her mother's homeworld.

"If those people were enemies –"

"They were innocent!" Jaina snarled through clenched teeth. "An entire planet destroyed – for nothing!"

Palpatine paused, leaning back in his chair and looking at her through half-closed eyes, a strangely peaceful and almost unreadable expression on his face. "You are young and have much to learn about the workings of the world, Jaina Solo," he said calmly. "You are very much like your grandfather in that respect. I have already given Anakin much advice, but he has yet to learn the _true_ ways of the Galaxy."

"Let me see," Jaina retorted, "those include wiping out the Jedi, creating a rule of terror and destroying planets for fun." She folded her arms and stared unblinkingly at Palpatine.

He merely laughed at her. "My dear, some day that tongue of yours will be your downfall."

Jaina snorted. "Maybe. But I don't have any respect for you. After all, I'm talking to the Sith Lord who ruined my family and killed my brother," she bit out and then immediately cursed under her breath. She watched Palpatine's reaction – for a split second, his eyebrows raised and a genuine expression of surprise crossed his face. Here was the proof that this version of Palpatine really did not know what was going to happen in the future.

After a moment of silence, Palpatine smiled silkily at her. "I have a proposition for you, Jaina," he said. "You are my enemy – and enemies will be disposed of. Especially ones as dangerous as yourself. But there is an escape for you – you do not have to die out of place and out of time. Throw away all the intentions you had when you came to this time; put your past behind you. Forget what you came to do and I will spare your life." He paused and then he chuckled. "I will even offer myself as a teacher, the only one who can expand your knowledge of the Force, give you insight on powers you never dreamed of –"

"_No."_ Jaina did not shout the word. Her teeth were clenched too tightly for a loud sound to escape her mouth. Furiously, she wrenched them apart so she could speak more clearly. "Did you really expect me to agree to that? To put away all of my beliefs for the sake of my life and _join you?!_ After what you have done to my _family?_ To the billions of species around the Galaxy? I would rather _die_ before I joined you, Sith Lord, because I won't turn my back on what I believe in. Not even to save my own life. I'm not that much of a coward." She spat the last word. "Unlike you."

Palpatine raised his chin and looked at her coldly. "Very well."

"And hear me out," Jaina continued through gritted teeth, "_Sith Lord._ You will _never_ turn Anakin Skywalker to the Dark side. As long as I live, you will have to deal with me and I warn you – I'm a fighter. Even though it goes against the Prophecy, if Anakin won't kill you, _I_ will. After what you've done, after what you're going to do, you deserve death and I will happily carry that out."

"Is that a threat?" His voice was barely more than a whisper, but it sounded more terrifying than shouted words.

"Yes," Jaina said, her eyes narrowed. "I believe it is. A threat for a threat, Palpatine. This is the _last_ time we meet under peaceful terms – even if you do ever find that little white flag."

Red hot anger boiling inside her, Jaina turned and marched away from the office. She used the Force to open the door; once she was through, she turned briefly to see Palpatine standing by his desk, staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face. His upper lip curled as she continued to glare at him.

Suddenly, she felt the hilt of his lightsaber fly out of her hand; it soared across the space between them and Palpatine caught it. He nodded once to her and then raised a hand; the door slid shut, blocking Jaina from the Chancellor's office. She stared at the closed door for a brief moment and then ran down the hall, her heart thumping wildly.

She had to find Kyp. He was right – _now_ was the time to move. Palpatine knew their motives; and they would be fighting an uphill battle to keep Anakin away from the Sith Lord and the lure of the Dark side. The difficulty of their initial job seemed to be multiplied by a thousand.

_Kyp!_ she shouted frantically with her mind, searching for him through the Force. _Palpatine knows about us! We're in trouble!_


	17. Complications

**CHAPTER XVII**

**Complications**

It was early in the afternoon and Anakin Skywalker was already falling asleep. He was pretending to listen as the Jedi Masters around him droned on and on about the war effort. Instead of with the Jedi Council, his mind was elsewhere. First, it had lingered on the warm smile Padmé had given him early that morning before wandering off in the direction of Jaina Solo's misnaming of the Outer-Rim Sieges and the weird look she had been giving him. He wondered what she wanted. It wasn't long before his mind wandered over to the discussion he had had with Obi-Wan the day before. Spying on Palpatine… how could he have asked him to do that? Could Anakin dare to betray one of his best friends like that? But what if Obi-Wan was right and there _was_ a Sith in Palpatine's inner circle, controlling him… wouldn't it be best if Anakin found out who that person was and stopped them before it was too late?

Suddenly, Yoda's voice jerked him out of his stupor.

"Needed, help is," Master Yoda was saying. "On a planet ruined not by war."

"What kind of help?" Obi-Wan asked.

"A report came in just two hours ago," Mace Windu said. "A planet called Shanthral, located far out in the Outer-Rim, between Bakura and the Unknown Regions. There are a small number of human settlements there and they have told us that the natives – called Shanthrai – have been disappearing. They say that they have sent out various scouts to find the disappearing Shanthrai, but none of them have returned."

"Is it related to the war?" Anakin asked. If it wasn't, maybe he would let his mind wander again.

"No, it isn't," Master Windu replied. "The settlers on Shanthral report that the Shanthrai are extremely nervous and that they, having heard of the Jedi through the settlers, want our help and our help only."

"Why is that?" Plo Koon asked. "We do have a war to fight; we have no Jedi to spare."

"Sensitive to the Force, the Shanthrai are," Yoda said. "Shy in nature, they are, but not so shy they're willing to be when threatened by what they call a 'phantom menace.'"

Anakin raised his head a little. Even though this wasn't related to the war, it was an interesting development. "If the Shanthrai are Force-sensitive, how come we haven't heard of them before?"

"They are a withdrawn species, Jedi Skywalker," Mace Windu replied. "They keep to themselves unless provoked, or in times of great need."

"And if a Force-sensitive species is disappearing from their own world," Obi-Wan said quietly, "then we should send help, or at least investigate the cause. It could be anything." There was a curious look in his eyes as he spoke.

"It is decided then," Ki-Adi-Mundi announced. "Who should we send? Most of our Jedi are already abroad."

Yoda's eyes scanned the room. They paused briefly on Anakin; his heart leapt. Would he be given the chance to explore a new world and solve this mystery? Yes, it would take him away from the war where his talents were needed the most, but he could also help the Shanthrai and easily stop whatever was attacking them.

"I volunteer for this task," Anakin said and suddenly felt very self-conscious as all the Jedi Masters turned and stared at him.

"Your task is here, Anakin," Mace Windu said sternly. "You have been appointed the Chancellor's Representative. You cannot go wandering off to the Unknown Regions right now."

Anakin opened his mouth to protest, but he didn't get a chance.

"I will go," Obi-Wan said suddenly. "I will help the Shanthrai."

There seemed to be a silence that lingered in the Council before someone finally spoke.

"Agreed to this, we are?" Yoda said.

There were no objections from anyone. Anakin felt his frustration rise. Whenever he volunteered for anything, there were always objections – but whenever Obi-Wan volunteered for an assignment, he was granted permission right away!

"One more Jedi, we should send," Yoda added softly.

"Master Yoda," Coleman Kcaj objected loudly, "it is enough that Master Kenobi goes. We do not have enough Jedi to allow another to go wandering around on Shanthral. The Jedi are needed _here."_

"Unless…" Obi-Wan's voice faded as soon as he spoke. Anakin watched him, hoping desperately – would Obi-Wan suggest that _he_ could go as well? Anakin knew that it was most unlikely – everyone knew that as long as he served as the Chancellor's Representative, he could not leave Coruscant – but maybe…

"What idea have you?" Yoda inquired.

"I suggest, Masters," Obi-Wan said finally, after a pause, "that we assign this mission to one of our visiting Jedi as well. They could be of use and as we are not yet completely familiar with them to trust them with a mission associated with the war, this could be used as an experiment to test their loyalty." He glanced at Mace Windu, who was scowling, and then at Anakin.

Anakin knew that he must have an expression that equaled Master Windu's, because he was not at all thrilled with Obi-Wan's proposition. One of those renegade Jedi take the place of one of their own? Definitely not! Especially not _her_…

"I would suggest, Masters," Obi-Wan continued, "that Jaina Solo joins me on this mission while Kyp Durron stays here in the Temple."

"Knight Solo?" Kit Fisto asked. "Do you believe she's trustworthy, Master Kenobi? I was under the impression that she was the more volatile of the two."

Obi-Wan's expression was impossible to read. "Of the two, I believe she will be the better candidate."

"I object!" Anakin exclaimed. "Why should we trust either of them? They should stay in the Temple until we can learn more about them!"

"I am inclined to agree with Jedi Skywalker on this account," Mace Windu said grimly.

Anakin smiled inwardly. Mace Windu, at least, was being reasonable.

"I do not agree," Stass Allie said quietly. "I believe Master Kenobi is right in sending one of them on a mission. From the two of them, I believe Jedi Solo will cause the least trouble if she happens to cause any trouble at all."

"And even if she and Jedi Durron do have some kind of underlying plan that hasn't been put into action yet," Saesee Tiin added, "wouldn't splitting them up by keeping one here and sending the other on the mission with Master Kenobi disrupt their plan?"

"Agreed, I do, with Master Tiin and Master Allie," Yoda said.

"I still believe that it is worrisome," Mace Windu said severely, "but it could provide useful information."

Everyone turned to Anakin. He didn't reply, but nodded his head. Inside, he felt very sour as he listened to Obi-Wan's suggestion being finalized. Jaina Solo was to be sent on a mission to Shanthral to discover some Force-capturing frenzied animal-thing while he was stuck here. While he didn't actually mind being stuck on Coruscant – Padmé was here, and he wouldn't leave her for the Galaxy – it was the fact that Solo had beaten him that frustrated him.

After the Council had adjourned, Anakin chased after Obi-Wan.

"Master!" he called, catching up with him.

Obi-Wan turned and stopped walking. "Yes, Anakin?"

"What gave you the idea to ask for _Jaina Solo_ to go on your mission?" Anakin said angrily. "She's a… I don't know what she is, but we can hardly trust her! What's gotten into your head?"

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said wearily, "does this have anything to do with you _not_ being chosen for the mission?"

Anakin opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

"You know that you're needed here, Anakin," Obi-Wan continued. "Don't argue with your placement. Would you prefer _not_ to be on the Jedi Council at all?"

Anakin frowned. "That's not what I meant, Master."

Obi-Wan sighed wearily. "I suggested that Jaina Solo accompany me on the mission to Shanthral _because_ I don't trust her. Yes, I am suspicious of her, but I believe that if I can learn more about her, then I can discover whether she intends harm or not. A mission is the perfect situation I'm looking for, since I will have to work with her as she will have to work with me."

Anakin was dumbfounded. He hadn't even seen this coming.

"Oh," he said.

"Now, would you excuse me, Anakin?" Obi-Wan said. "I have a briefing to go to."

"Yes, of course." Anakin paused. "Master, wait."

Obi-Wan, who had begun walking again, stopped and turned around. "Yes?"

Anakin took a deep breath. "I thought about what you said earlier. If the Sith Lord is really controlling Palpatine… then I'm ready to protect him. I'll work with the Council."

There was a moment of silence where neither of them said anything. Then Obi-Wan smiled.

"Thank you, Anakin," he said and walked slowly away.

Anakin watched his friend until he was out of sight. Anakin's whirling thoughts turned to the apartment he would have liked to call home. Padmé would know what to say. She was the only one he could trust now.

* * *

Jaina left the shuttle that had brought her back to the Jedi Temple from Palpatine's office in a crazed rush. She could feel the eyes of astonished Jedi and Padawans as she ran through the corridors, her breath coming in gasps. The frantic panic she had felt as she had left the Chancellor's office was quickly subsiding and was replaced with tense anger.

_Kyp!_ she yelled with her mind.

Remembering what he had told her before she had left, she skidded to a stop and turned around, backtracking along a corridor. It took her five minutes to get to the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Once she entered, she looked around wildly for Kyp, but she couldn't see him. She paused in front of the entrance, forcing herself to calm down. Unfortunately, the infamous calming effects of the room weren't working quite as well as she could have hoped.

"Jaina!"

She looked to her left and saw Kyp standing by one of the numerous pools of water that were scattered throughout the room. She walked quickly towards him, trying to get her breathing under control.

He took one look at her face and immediately demanded, "What happened?"

Jaina felt her hands tighten into fists. "He knows," she hissed. "He knows who we are. What we're trying to do."

Kyp's face paled. "How?"

"He can time travel, remember?" Jaina answered hotly. She shuddered and looked away, her eyes focusing on one the large trees by the pool of water; its leaves were dipping in the water, creating ripples. "He's seen the future – multiple futures – and he knows who I am. He didn't say much about you, but I assume the same."

"Multiple futures?" Kyp asked, his eyes narrowing. "How can there be multiple futures?"

Jaina closed her eyes. Her heart was beating out of control. "Things change, Kyp," she said quickly. "The future isn't set in stone. He said he's seen futures were I've been born and futures were I haven't. He said that if one person could have come to _this_ time period from the future, _I_ am the one who would make it the most interesting for him." She opened her eyes and glanced at Kyp – his expression had curled into a dark scowl.

"He offered to teach you about the Dark side, didn't he?" Kyp said, his eyes flashing. "And then he threatened to kill you."

Jaina laughed bitterly. "Yeah… it was a threat for a threat. I told him that if Anakin couldn't kill him, _I_ would."

Kyp sighed. "Great," he grumbled. "Just great. Trust you to get us into a deeper mess."

Jaina felt her temper flare. _"Me?_ Hey, you're not one to talk!"

"Jaina, you do realize that you've just made things very difficult for us," Kyp said. "Palpatine's the Chancellor – his word is the law here. You should be expecting to be assassinated in your sleep."

Jaina crossed her arms. "Oh, come on," she snapped, "do you really think Palpatine's going to even try that? He'll know that I'm expecting it. I doubt he'll even be able to get his people into the Jedi Temple."

"I wouldn't put it past him."

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Kyp, do you really think Palpatine's going to do the obvious?" she scoffed.

"He gave you an ultimatum—"

"Yes," Jaina interrupted hotly, "and if I don't join him, then he wants me out of the way and he's going to do that in a way that's going to be as inconspicuous as possible! The death of a Jedi inside the Temple itself is a little unordinary, wouldn't you say? Trust me, as long as I stay inside the Temple boundaries, I'll be fine. He's not going to try to kill me here."

"You don't know that!" Kyp bit out. He seized her by her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. "Have we ever been able to guess Palpatine's next move? If he wants to assassinate you, he'll strike when you're least expecting it. Jaina, you're not going to be safe as long as you're on Coruscant."

"What do you mean by that?" Jaina retorted. "You want me to go off-world? How's that supposed to help our stupid mission?" She roughly jerked away from Kyp, glaring at him.

"Don't let your hotheadedness get the best of you!" Kyp snapped. "You're not invincible."

"_My_ hotheadedness?" She raised both her eyebrows incredulously. Perhaps it was because she was strained after her meeting with Palpatine or perhaps it was the fact that she was feeling the separate from her family more keenly today, but she felt like picking a fight. She could feel the colour rising in her cheeks. "Listen to me, you _hotheaded_ bantha, let's get one thing straight. I take orders from only one person – me!"

"Is that your new slogan?" Kyp spat. He looked livid. "Sounds like something your father would say. I don't think I would have heard it from you a few years ago when we were fighting the Vong."

"Oh, yeah?" Jaina hissed. "Well, as it turns out, I'm not a part of the army any more. And if it hadn't been for you tagging along so desperately after me when I told Augustine I'd go into the past, I would have been doing this myself in my own way!"

"And where would you be now?" Kyp snarled. "Six feet under or burnt to a crisp or however these people deal with their dead—"

"Are you implying something?"

"Maybe I am!"

Jaina's cheeks were flushed. "Well, you know what, Durron?" she hissed, somewhat breathlessly. "I don't think you'd be doing so well by yourself if it was just _you_ stuck in the past!"

He said several things that Jaina was sure she wouldn't hear from him very often. He told her, in quite colourful language, exactly what he thought of her attitude. In response, Jaina threw all of his own words back in his teeth, delivering insults with every one. The conversation disintegrated from there, turning into an episode where they stood, several feet apart, inventing the most insulting epithets either of them could think of. Eventually, they both became too furious with each other to continue their long tirade of verbal abuse and they fell to glaring at each other. Brown eyes stared into green for what seemed like minutes. Both Jaina and Kyp were too angry with each other to come up with a reasonable solution to their situation without insulting each other.

After a moment, Kyp spoke hesitantly. "Was that necessary?"

Jaina gave him a cold look and then sighed. In truth, the entire incident has been entirely ridiculous. It was utterly pointless inventing swearwords to use on Kyp. Although, admittedly she felt quite better now. She supposed that the feisty little argument had all been an outlet for the anger and frustration she felt after her confrontation with Palpatine.

"What now?" she asked, ignoring Kyp's question. He probably didn't need an answer.

"We need to tell Anakin the truth," Kyp said, "before Palpatine can get to him. After your little affair, he's most likely very aggravated with you. You're planning on messing up every single plan he's ever had since the day he met Anakin."

"It's what I do best," Jaina said wryly. "All right. Let's go find Anakin. We might as well get this over with. It's not going to be very pretty –"

"Knight Solo!" a voice shouted from behind her.

"Oh, what is it now?" Jaina muttered, irritated. She turned to see another Jedi approaching them. "That's the second one today."

"The Jedi Council has requested to see you," the Jedi told her. "Immediately."

Jaina glanced at Kyp.

"Go on," he muttered. "I'm usually the one who gets left out of things – fine by me. At least the Jedi aren't going to kill you."

Jaina rolled her eyes. "He's not going to get to me," she muttered under her breath. "See you later." She turned to the Jedi messenger. "All right, I'm coming, I'm coming."

She left the Room of a Thousand Fountains trying to get her temper under control. Despite the tense anger she was still feeling, she was curious as to what the Jedi Council had to say to her – though she hoped that whatever it was, it wouldn't land her in a tighter spot than she was already in.


	18. Mindlocked

**CHAPTER XVIII**

**Mindlocked**

Jaina stood in front of the Jedi Council, listening to Mace Windu describe the planet Shanthral and its inhabitants. Her fists were clenched with frustration, but she kept her expression as impassive as possible. When she had been called to the Jedi Council hardly half an hour ago, she hadn't known what to expect. Whatever it was she had thought she would hear, it definitely wasn't the announcement that she would be going on a mission to some mysterious planet located near the Unknown Regions. Furthermore, she had thought that if she would be given any missions by the Jedi, they definitely wouldn't involve finding the source of the problem of a disappearing populace. In addition, Kyp wasn't to be involved in the mission at all. She was going with Obi-Wan.

As far as Jaina could tell, she had no choice in the matter. Obi-Wan had chosen her to come with him on this assignment and there was nothing she could do about it. She was to go with him to this little, hardly known planet and discover the mysterious force that was taking the Shanthrai. They were to leave later that afternoon.

Jaina felt panic beginning to, once again, rise in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't leave Coruscant. There was too much at stake, what with her recent theatrics in Palpatine's office. With that ultimatum hanging over her head, she was certain that Anakin could be seduced to the Dark side at any moment. She had to keep an eye on Anakin – that was her mission and she and Kyp had to make their move soon. She didn't have time to go to other planets and hunt down weird creatures for an even odder Force-sensitive species.

Why her? Out of all the Jedi, why choose her? Of course, most of the Jedi were on field missions that dealt with the war, so they couldn't be sent… But, then again, why did they need _two_ Jedi? Surely Obi-Wan was capable of handling this mission on his own.

There was no possible way that she could ask them to let her stay behind – from what she had discovered about the Old Order, all Jedi did as they were asked.

With the exception of Anakin.

She could try to pull an act like her grandfather and try to slip by the rules and regulations of the Old Order, but wouldn't she merely draw suspicion to herself? That was one of the last things she and Kyp wanted. They had worked their way into fairly good terms with the Jedi Council and they couldn't lose that now. They were close to Anakin, close enough to make a move and reveal the terrible truth about his destiny to him.

If she went to Shanthral with Obi-Wan, she would ruin everything. She needed to be here.

"Is that clear, Jedi Solo?"

She raised her head and looked Master Windu in the eye. Perhaps she didn't need to ask them to let her stay behind – she would just tell them that she wasn't going. She would refuse the mission.

"It is clear, Master," she said. "But I'm not going."

There was a collective murmur of astonishment from the Jedi Masters. Mace Windu frowned at her.

"I don't accept this mission," she added, her eyes glancing to where Obi-Wan Kenobi sat, stroking his beard. His eyes were narrowed, but he didn't seem upset or confused by this statement, merely curious – as was Yoda.

"Excuse me?" Master Windu said.

"I don't accept the mission," Jaina repeated, her gaze returning to Windu's face. The bald Jedi Master shifted in his seat, looking at her with mistrust. "I am not an official Jedi, so I can't see why I should abide by your rules. And if you try to make me against my own will, you are truly distasteful hosts indeed."

There were collective murmurs of disapproval. Jaina rolled her eyes; these Jedi were really very pathetic. It was as if they hadn't dealt with a headstrong Jedi before. Wasn't there anyone here who could think for themselves?

"The insolence!" Saesee Tiin burst out.

"Silence!" Windu called. He turned to Jaina. "So, you decline, Knight Solo?"

Jaina raised her chin. She had the impression that Windu was looking down his nose at her, and she didn't like stuffy qualities like that one very much.

"I do." _And what are you going to do about it?_ she added silently, not taking her eyes off Windu's face.

From Windu's dark look, she could tell he almost knew what she was thinking.

"And why do you decline?" he asked.

"For reasons already stated," Jaina replied. _Please don't make me elaborate any further,_ she added to herself. Her nerves were already stretched thin today. She didn't want to have to stretch them further by creating a whole new set of lies to slip by the Jedi Masters who ultimately couldn't understand her true purpose for staying in Coruscant.

_Jaina, you're not going to be safe as long as you're on Coruscant _– Kyp's words came back to her unbidden. She bit her lip. Whatever form of revenge Palpatine was planning, she would have to be ready for it.

"What reasons are those?" Windu prompted.

"Look, do I really have to go over this again?" Jaina snapped. She had wasted enough time here already. She needed to find Anakin, not spend her time arguing with stuffy Jedi Masters who couldn't see danger even when it was staring them straight in the face! "Who cares about my reasons?" she continued hotly. "I don't need you people poking your noses into my life. Let's face the plain facts. One – you offer me a mission to go to this Shanthral place to do whatever the hell it is. Two – I'm not going. Find someone else. The end, goodbye." With that, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the council chamber.

The theatrics of it all was ridiculous, but Jaina didn't care. Today had been strenuous enough that she didn't mind upsetting a few Jedi Masters to get her way. Of course, there were better ways to have sidestepped that mission, but she didn't have time for it. Storming down the corridors, she went off in search of Kyp.

* * *

Back in the council chamber, the Jedi Masters were, for the most part, unimpressed.

"What a performance," Stass Allie murmured.

"Excitable girl," Coleman Kcaj added.

"Hotheaded," Agen Kolar said.

"Did you really think that this girl would accept the mission, Master Kenobi?" Plo Koon asked, turning to Obi-Wan.

"I admit that I thought she wouldn't be so… vehement in her rejection," Obi-Wan said. "My hopes were not high. I will speak with her."

"No," Mace Windu interrupted. "She is not trustworthy. She is hiding something."

"All the more reason to go and speak with her," Obi-Wan insisted.

"Hiding something, she is," Yoda said before Mace Windu could reply. "Presume do you, Master Windu, that something bad, it is?"

Mace Windu's face was expressionless. "What other reason would there be for hiding it?" he asked.

"Many," Yoda answered simply.

There was silence as the council members waited for him to continue – but he did not.

"Reasons such as?" Windu asked finally.

"Reasons to us unknown," Yoda answered. "Secrets, people have. Bad, this is? No."

"We're living in dangerous times, Master Yoda," Mace Windu said bluntly.

"Aware of that, I am, Master Windu," Yoda said.

There was silence.

"I will speak with Knight Solo," Obi-Wan said finally. "If she declines once more, I will carry out this mission to Shanthral alone."

He did not add that he was beginning to feel that his intuition about Jaina Solo's motives was misplaced. Perhaps Mace Windu was right and she could not be trusted.

* * *

Jaina grimly stormed down the corridors of the Jedi Temple, looking for Kyp. She seemed to spend most of her time looking for Kyp; it was a habit that had somehow evolved out of living at the Jedi Temple. She was trying not to think about what he would say when he found out what she had done this time.

The word "hotheadedness," along with several of the creative epithets he had created specifically for her several hours earlier came to mind.

The Jedi she passed in the halls all gave her strange looks. Evidently not many people here lost their tempers. At the moment, though, Jaina did not care what the Jedi thought of her. She needed to find Kyp, and then they needed to find Anakin and have that long-awaited chat with him.

Jaina found Kyp in the Jedi Archives, calmly giving himself a history lesson. Instead of merely announcing her presence, Jaina cut the power to the terminal he was working at. Her temper was still out of hand and was getting the better of her.

"Hey, what the – oh, it's you." Kyp stood up and looked at her scowling face. "What's up with you?"

Jaina told him specifically what was "up" with her – and added some unnecessary vocabulary to describe her feelings.

"Woah, calm down," Kyp hissed. "Or that historian will be on us again. No yelling in the Archives, got it?"

"Then let's get out of the Archives," Jaina spat and promptly dragged him out into the corridor where Kyp had to hurry to keep up with her.

"Jaina, there's nothing worth getting upset about. The Jedi Masters just offered you a mission, there's nothing wrong with that –"

"Don't try to be reasonable, Kyp," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not in the mood. It was more like _demanded_ that I accept it. I declined and they didn't take it very well."

"And now you've got Windu upset," Kyp pointed out.

"Yeah, well that doesn't matter," Jaina grunted. "He was never fond of us to begin with. We need to find Anakin. He wasn't at the Council meeting, so he has to be somewhere else in the Temple."

"No, he isn't."

Jaina came to a stop so suddenly that Kyp nearly walked into her. "He isn't?"

"I already looked," Kyp explained. "He's nowhere to be found in the Temple. Ten to one he's with Palpatine."

Jaina swore.

"And Jaina," Kyp continued, "I know what you're thinking and let me tell you now, _it's not going to work._ If you go marching into the Chancellor's offices with your lightsaber ignited, Anakin's not very likely to side with you, is he? And together they're stronger than both of us."

Jaina folded her arms. Things were quickly going downhill. First she found out that Palpatine knew exactly who she was – and now she had a death threat hanging over her head. In addition, she had the Jedi Council breathing down her neck for declining that pointless mission.

"And I'm _not_ going to let you walk right into Palpatine's arms," Kyp added. "We've got to think this through first."

"Practicality, Durron?" Jaina asked spitefully. "From you?"

"For once in your life, Jaina, don't argue with me!"

She laughed harshly. "And for once in your life, don't tell me what to do!" she spat back. "You're _not _my master and you're definitely _not_ my commander. If you don't want to go find Anakin, fine. I'll go alone – even if that means fighting Palpatine. From the way I'm feeling right now, nothing else would give me greater pleasure." With that, she stormed away down the hall, leaving Kyp far behind. She thought that he would follow her and try to talk her out of it and was surprised, and a little disappointed, when he didn't.

Perhaps he had had enough of arguing with her for one day. The more reasonable side of Jaina couldn't blame him – her fiery mood was enough to put her own teeth on edge. But she had finally had enough. She had been sent here to get a job done, and that was what she was going to do, no matter what the consequences. The time for rationality had long gone.

She would return to her quarters first. She needed a drink and perhaps something to eat before she went to confront Palpatine and Anakin. If she could get Palpatine to use his powers in front of her grandfather, then perhaps he would finally see his "friend" for what he was…

Jaina opened the door to her quarters and slipped inside. Daylight flooded the room – it was late afternoon. Jaina walked through the living space, found a glass and filled it with water. She was raising it to her lips to take a drink when she heard something behind her.

She didn't so much as heard it as _felt_ it. The Force was tugging at the very essence of her being in a way that was both strange yet excruciatingly familiar. Against her will, she was forced to turn around.

The glass dropped from her hand. She didn't even hear it shatter.

* * *

_Stupid, kriffing idiot,_ Kyp thought. _She's going to get herself killed. Sithspit – whoever thought of mixing Skywalker and Solo blood? Obviously not a good combination. No sense whatsoever. Kriffing Jaina Solo!_

Kyp walked impatiently down the halls, mulling over various ways to stop Jaina from going on her suicide mission. These thoughts were frequently interrupted whenever Kyp felt like insulting Jaina's personality.

She was very likely sulking in her room right now, he thought. He could probably intercept her there, but most likely wouldn't be able to stop her without using force. For some reason, he wasn't particularly fond of that idea but felt that it would most likely be necessary.

He was still considering various ways to talk Jaina out of her insane idea when he heard someone call his name.

"Durron!"

Kyp turned around and saw, to his surprise, Obi-Wan Kenobi catching up with him.

"Yes?" he said.

"Where's Jaina Solo?" Kenobi asked. "I need to speak to her – it's urgent."

Kyp frowned. "If this is about that mission you Jedi Masters tried to get her involved with, she's not going to be very interested." He did not add the fact that having Kenobi show up at Jaina's door would slow her down, maybe even long enough to let some of her energies burn up. Maybe then Kyp would have a reasonable chance at stopping her suicide mission.

"I understand her position," Kenobi said, "and I understand that she has no reason to accept, but I must speak with her."

"She's in her quarters," Kyp said. "Most likely."

"What do you mean, 'most likely?'" Kenobi inquired.

"She wanted to look for Anakin Skywalker," Kyp answered. "You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"

"At the moment, no," Kenobi replied. "Why is she –"

At that moment, Kyp felt a very distinct tug through the Force. He remembered the feeling instantly – it was identical to the moment when he had been pulled through the wormhole! His shock must have shown on his face, because Kenobi stopped speaking.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Kyp ignored the question. The feeling, though initially identical, had changed. It was as if a portal through time had opened near-by and he was merely feeling it.

If it was a time portal that meant Palpatine.

And that meant Jaina was being targeted.

"Jaina!" he hissed under his breath.

"I'm sorry?"

Kenobi was still there. Swearing to himself, Kyp quickly came up with a reason to leave.

"I'm sorry, Master Kenobi," he said quickly. "Would you excuse me? If I see Jaina, I'll tell her you're looking for her." With that, he took off towards Jaina's quarters as fast as he could, leaving a bemused Kenobi behind. Kyp hurtled along the hallways and corridors, arriving at Jaina's door five minutes after Kyp had first felt the time portal open.

"Jaina!" Kyp yelled, blasting her door open with the Force and rushing in. He didn't have far to go to find Jaina. She was lying face-down on the floor, motionless, a shattered glass at her feet and water soaking into the carpet. There was no sign of anyone else being in the room, but Kyp could feel something there through the Force.

No doubt, it was the portal.

"All right," he called, "where are you?"

He reached out with his mind, searching the room for the invisible time portal. It was only a few seconds before he heard someone screaming in his mind.

_Kyp! KYP! _

_Jaina?_

_Pull your mind away! Pull it away or you'll get drawn in, too—!_

He heard her scream; the world went black and he saw many things from his past that he would never have liked to see again – the destruction of Carida, the spirit of Exar Kun, the friends he had lost in the Yuuzhan Vong war, Jaina's close shave with the Dark side after the disastrous mission to Myrkyr… and then there was silence.

Kyp blinked. The darkness lifted. The room was unchanged. Jaina's unconscious form still was lying on the floor.

He swore. Without turning around, he used the Force to close the door to Jaina's quarters before hurrying over to her. He didn't want any Jedi who might be passing by to become curious. Crouching beside her, Kyp quickly turned her over. Her face was pale and there were faint blue circles around her eyes. He pressed two fingers to the side of her neck and felt a faint pulse. She was barely alive.

"Stars, Jaina," he murmured. The logical thing was to bring her to the medcentre, but Kyp knew that this was something even the most experienced Jedi Healers would not be able to deal with. None of them had time traveled, after all, and linking their minds to Jaina's to discover the problem would be dangerous.

Somehow, he knew that that was what he would have to do to save her. If he didn't, she would die.

"She's not going to die," Kyp hissed. The words were more for his benefit than establishing the truth. In fact, Kyp didn't know if Jaina would survive or not – but if he chose to believe that she wasn't going to die, perhaps he wouldn't have the strength to revive her.

Inhaling deeply, Kyp closed his eyes and put a hand on Jaina's forehead. He had a strong sense of foreboding about this; he wasn't entirely sure what Palpatine had managed to do to Jaina, but whatever it was, it had to do with time. He desperately hoped that he wasn't wading in too deep.

He close his eyes and sent out his thought, searching for Jaina's mind.

* * *

_The voxyn was moving down and away. Jaina hissed a curse. "Hutt breath, she's escaping!"_

"_The imposter must have opened an escape tunnel," Anakin's weak voice, carried by the Force, said through the comlink. "Jacen, you're in charge. Take everyone and go after her."_

_Jaina stiffened at the resentment of Anakin calling only her twin's name, but she pushed it aside. "Can't get there, Little Brother," she said, speaking into her comlink. _

"_The path will clear," Anakin replied. He sounded calm, but she could feel his pain through the Force. He was fighting a last stand. Jaina blinked as an explosion came rippling through the area; she felt Anakin dodge it through the Force and resurface to meet the onslaught of Yuuzhan Vong warriors. _

"_Anakin!" she screamed. She had to help him. She had to get him out of there!_

_Jaina's body was moving before her mind had even given the command. She peered over the pit wall, her longblaster at the ready. She raised it but even as she did so, she saw the full brutality of the battle down below. Her brother, her little brother, encased in a burning aura that shone so brightly that his enemies were casting shadows. His energy was draining; he couldn't last much longer. He was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it. The longblaster fell from her hand as tears began streaming down her cheeks. _

"_Jaina!" _

_It was Jacen's voice. He was beside her now, trying to pull her away from the scene, but she fought tooth and nail to remain. _

"_Jaina, we've got to go," Jacen said. "The voxyn… we've got to hunt her down, we've got to destroy her!"_

"_No!" Jaina said. "NO! We've – got – to – save – him!"_

"_Jaina, there's nothing we can do."_

"_NO!"_

Go!_ Anakin called through the Force_. I can't hold!

_The Yuuzhan Vong charged towards him again and Jaina raised her longblaster, firing at them. Anakin retreated backwards, using the Force for a feeble backwards flip that gave him an extra five meters of distance from his enemies. Jaina saw him look around for the Jedi imposter. Evidently, Anakin found what he was looking for. _

_Several more explosions rocked the area and Jaina blinked, unable to see her brother for several seconds. When the bright lights and smoke cleared, she saw him pulling his last thermal detonator from his belt. _

Go now.

"_Anakin, I can'!" Jaina screamed into her comlink. _

_Anakin raised the thermal detonator, turning in her direction. _Thirty seconds,_ he said, releasing the trigger. _Take her, Jacen. Kiss Tahiri for me._ Anakin turned away from his siblings one last time and threw the detonator across the grashall. From Jaina's position above the pit wall, she saw it hit the imposter in the head. She saw her brother parry several more attacks, his efforts growing ever feebler. There was a brief flurry of activity as the imposter tried to reach for the thermal detonator before it went off, but something was nudging it out of the way: Anakin. _

_The imposter screamed in frustration and cursed, turning back to where Anakin was standing. _

_But he was no longer standing. _

_Tears burst from Jaina's eyes and streamed down her cheeks as she saw the faint form of her brother fall limply to the ground. _

_He was dead._

_Jaina felt as though her heart had been torn away._

* * *

_Jaina's body was moving before her mind had even given the command. She peered over the pit wall, her longblaster at the ready. She raised it but even as she did so, she saw the full brutality of the battle down below. Her brother, her little brother, encased in a burning aura that shone so brightly that his enemies were casting shadows. His energy was draining; he couldn't last much longer. He was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it. The longblaster fell from her hand as tears began streaming down her cheeks. _

"_Jaina!" _

_It was Jacen's voice. He was beside her now, trying to pull her away from the scene, but she fought tooth and nail to remain. _

"_Jaina, we've got to go," Jacen said. "The voxyn… we've got to hunt her down, we've got to destroy her!"_

"_No!" Jaina said. "NO! We've – got – to – save – him!"_

"_Jaina –"_

"_We've got to!"_

_She struggled and freed herself from her brother's grasp. She heard him call her name, but she refused to listen. She had to save Anakin. Screaming in rage, she launched herself over the pit wall, using the Force to soften her landing. She hit the ground running, igniting her lightsaber as she went. She launched herself into the fight, the violet blade slicing through her enemies as she took them by surprise from behind. Soon she was standing beside Anakin, blinded by the bright intensity of his aura. _

Jaina, get out of here! _his thoughts screamed at her. _There's nothing you can do!

"_I can't leave you!" she shouted, her eyes blinking desperately to keep back the tears which where blinding her vision. _

There's nothing you can do, _Anakin said quietly. He gave another feeble parry. _

Get out of here.

"_Anakin, I can't!"_

_He turned to stare at her, or to reprimand her, but suddenly his mouth opened in horror. Unable to speak, he gathered his final strength and Force-flipped over her head, landing behind her. Immediately, he took a blow to the chest from an amphistaff – a blow that had been meant for her. Jaina wheeled around as she heard the sound of her brother's chest being crushed. She screamed in terror as Anakin sank to the ground, dead._

_There was nothing she could do._

_She heard the imposter laugh, but she couldn't bring herself to face him. _

_Jaina's body was moving before her mind had even given the command. She peered over the pit wall, her longblaster at the ready. She raised it but even as she did so, she saw the full brutality of the battle down below. Her brother, her little brother, encased in a burning aura that shone so brightly that his enemies were casting shadows. His energy was draining; he couldn't last much longer. He was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it. The longblaster fell from her hand as tears began streaming down her cheeks._

* * *

"_Jaina!" _

_It was Jacen's voice._

"_Jacen!" she cried. "We've got to do something!"_

"_I know!" His face was tightened in a painful expression; tears were clouding his eyes. "Wait here. I've got an idea." He pulled his lightsaber from his belt and passed her the longblaster. "Cover me," he whispered. _

Jacen! _It was Anakin's voice, propelled by the Force. _Take Jaina and get out of here!

_Jacen didn't reply. He was already throwing himself over the side of the pit wall and into the battle. Jaina took aim with the longblaster and fired at the enemy Yuuzhan Vong who came swarming over her twin. Jacen worked his way towards Anakin; soon they were fighting back-to-back. _

What are you doing? _Anakin's voice screamed. _Get out of here!

"_We're not leaving you!" Jacen shouted. Jaina fired with the longblaster, knocking out several of the Yuuzhan Vong who had just reached her brothers. _

There's nothing you can do.

"_We've got to save you."_

There's nothing you can do! _Anakin yelled. _Get out while you still can! And that's an order, Jacen!

"_I'm past taking orders, little brother."_

_An explosion racked the area and Anakin's response was lost in the sound of the blast; Jaina lost her grip on the longblaster. As she bent to pick it up, Jacen and Anakin were suddenly overrun by a swarm of warriors. All she could see of them momentarily was Anakin's burning aura. Then, suddenly, it winked out. She heard a terrible scream and then Jacen's presence, their twin-bond, was wrenched away. _

_Peering over the side of the pit, Jaina saw the bodies of her brothers lying dead, on the ground. She howled in anger and pain. _

"NO!"

Jaina…

* * *

Jaina…

_That voice… she knew that voice. And it wasn't coming from nearby. Whose voice was that?_

_Jaina's body was moving before her mind had even given the command. She peered over the pit wall, her longblaster at the ready. She raised it but even as she did so, she saw the full brutality of the battle down below. Her brother, her little brother, encased in a burning aura that shone so brightly that his enemies were casting shadows. His energy was draining; he couldn't last much longer. He was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it. The longblaster fell from her hand as tears began streaming down her cheeks. _

"_Jaina!" _

_It was Jacen's voice._

"_Jacen!" she cried. "We've got to do something!"_

"_I know, I know!" He was already unclipping his lightsaber. "Come on!"_

"_What?"_

"_We're going on a rescue mission. We're getting Anakin out of there."_

_Jaina and Jacen simultaneously launched themselves over the side of the pit wall, igniting their lightsabers as they did so. As soon as they landed, the Yuuzhan Vong converged on them. Anakin was fighting nearby – they could see the glow of his aura in their peripheral vision. Fear for her brother's life and anger fueled Jaina's energies as she fought on, parry after parry. She fell once, dodged a blow and came up again, fighting onwards. _

_A Force-enhanced cartwheel landed her back-to-back with Anakin. He did not have the energy to speak to her, but she could sense his disapproval of their choices through the Force. _

You need to get out of here! _his thoughts were screaming._

"_Anakin, we can't!" Jaina cried. "Here, lean on me, we're going to get you out of here—"_

But the voxyn—

"_Tahiri and the others are on it. They won't let it escape."_

I'm dying, Jaina.

"_Come on, lean on me! Jacen, keep them off our backs!"_

_It was a struggle, but they started to work their way towards a safer zone. As soon as they reached relative safety, they could treat Anakin's wounds. Then they would need to find a way off-planet –_

"_Argh!"_

_Jacen's scream caused Jaina to almost drop her brother as she turned to search for her twin. Jacen had stumbled; he was on the ground, wounded and bleeding in several places. _

"_JACEN!" she screamed. _

Jaina… _Anakin's thought was feeble. _Jaina… get out.

_He was reaching for the last thermal detonator. Taking it out, he clicked it and threw it into the swarming masses of Yuuzhan Vong. It hit one of them in the face. _

Get out…

"_Anakin, don't leave me!"_

_He smiled briefly at her, and then his eyelids shut as he lost consciousness. Then Jaina knew he was dead. _

"_NO!"_

JAINA…!

* * *

Kyp blinked and painfully withdrew his mind from Jaina's. Images from his past fluttered briefly before his mind's eye, but he pushed them away. He didn't need the distractions. Thanks to the bond that had been forged from the mind-meld during the Yuuzhan Vong war, he had found Jaina's mind with relative ease. However, she seemed to be locked in some kind of time prison where she was forced to relive moments from her past in all the various ways they could have gone.

It was no surprise that Palpatine had chosen her most painful memory: Anakin's death.

She was locked in this prison, and he couldn't get her out. For a moment, he had thought she might have heard him calling her name, but then she had slipped back into her memory-dream.

And he couldn't get her out.

There was no one to help him. No one in the Jedi Temple would have even an _inkling_ of what was going on. He was the only one who could rescue Jaina. Even if that meant sacrificing his own mind for her sake.

Inhaling slowly, he prepared himself for another attempt to bring her out of her nightmares. "Come on, Jaina," he whispered. "Get out of there. I can't be stuck in the past by myself… I don't know what I'd do without you. Come on, _come on_… you're _not _leaving me on this one." On impulse, he kissed her forehead.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she gasped in air.

"ANAKIN!" she screamed, sitting up, her arms flailing and her eyes wide and wild. "JACEN!"

"Woah!" Kyp reached out and grabbed hold of her arms before she hit him by accident. He held her tightly, patting her on the back. "Easy, Jaina, easy. You're fine… you're fine."

She was crying. It took her a moment to realize that she was no longer trapped within her mind. "Oh, Kyp," she sobbed. "I saw them… I saw them die. So many times. I tried to save them, but I couldn't. And each time they died, I went back and tried to save them again, but the Yuuzhan Vong always won. Each time. And the voxyn always escaped. So many times… and now they're both death." Tears were splashing liberally down her cheeks.

"No, they're not dead," Kyp whispered. "You're going to save them. Myrkr is never going to happen."

She sniffed. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

They were quiet for a moment. Kyp continued to cradle her gently; she was holding on to him so tightly that it seemed like she didn't want to let go. She had buried her face in his chest, sobbing into his shirt.

Kyp couldn't think of what to say. He patted her awkwardly on the back instead.

Finally, she managed to find her voice. "Why am I so tired?" she asked. Then, without any notice, she slumped forwards and fell fast asleep.

Judging from her steady breathing and normal pulse, it was a natural sleep. Kyp breathed a sigh of relief. He struggled to his feet and carried Jaina to her bed.

Now he would just have to wait for her to wake up.


	19. Countermove

**CHAPTER XIX**

**Countermove**

_I believe that if I can learn more about her, then I can discover whether she intends harm or not. A mission is the perfect situation I'm looking for, since I will have to work with her as she will have to work with me._

Obi-Wan's words echoed in Anakin's mind. It was a clever plan, to be sure, but surely they didn't have to resort to such subtlety. This was getting ridiculous. Wasn't he going to be allowed to do _anything?_ No! Instead of sneaking around looking for Sith and getting into all sorts of interesting situations that usually involved life or death decisions, he was stuck on Coruscant listening to a group of old Jedi Masters discuss the same drivel over and over again without taking even a single piece of advice from him.

_But that's what you wanted, isn't it?_ a small voice whispered sardonically. Anakin blocked it out, trying to ignore the fact that being on the Council _had_ been what he wanted.

Anakin turned his thoughts, instead, towards his wife. He had spent almost the entire afternoon and evening with her and now Padmé was in the kitchen of her apartment. She was preparing food that she insisted on cooking herself, just for him. She had already dismissed her handmaidens, so they were alone – except for the droids, of course. Anakin and Padmé rarely had long periods of time to spend together and C-3PO usually cooked, so this was something different. Padmé had, for reasons Anakin could not understand, decided that tonight _she_ was cooking and had told 3PO, firmly, that he was not to bother them.

Dinner, it turned out, took quite a long time to make. It was well past evening by the time Padmé emerged from the kitchen, her face flushed; Anakin's stomach had been growling for hours.

"Dinner's ready, Anakin," Padmé announced.

Anakin watched as Padmé walked slowly towards the table where he was seated, carrying a large dish of Nubian-style food. She seemed to be concentrating very hard on not accidentally tipping the dish and spilling dinner all over the floor.

Anakin immediately stood up to help her, but Padmé shook her head vehemently.

"No," she said sternly, keeping her eyes on the dish. "I'm pregnant, not an invalid. I am perfectly capable of carrying dinner to the table."

Anakin couldn't help smiling and sat back down. "What's brought this on?" he asked as Padmé gently set the dish on the table and began serving food on to their plates.

Padmé raised an eyebrow and made an innocent face. "What do you mean?"

Anakin waved a hand, indicating the dinner she had just prepared for them. "All this I mean, you normally don't cook… right?"

"How do you know I don't cook for myself when you're off on one of your grand adventures?" she replied primly. "Ani, I'm not completely dependant on Threepio. You should know that." She smiled cheerfully and pointed to the food on his plate. "Eat, before it gets cold."

Anakin's hand paused on its way to pick up his fork. "What's gotten into you? You're beginning to sound the way my mother did."

Padmé's cheeks flushed. She toyed idly with her fork as she looked across the table at him. "To be honest," she said, "I'm practicing."

"Practicing?" Anakin asked, astounded and completely confused. "Practicing for what?"

Padmé rolled her eyes. "Ani, you do remember that we're going to have a family soon. I'm not going to put the children through the torture of having Threepio cook for them every night. They deserve better than that."

Anakin stared in astonishment at Padmé for a moment before both of them dissolved in laughter.

After a moment, Padmé stopped laughing and indicated dinner once more. "We really should eat before this gets cold." Without further ado, she picked up her fork and began eating.

Anakin hesitated before picking up his fork. Here Padmé was, forgetting all of her worries about the war and the government just for one evening so they could enjoy a simple dinner together. On the other hand, he was having difficultly keeping his thoughts off of the unfairness of the Jedi Council and this mission Obi-Wan had been sent on. If Padmé could so easily be swept up in the joyful prospect of a future family, why couldn't he? Why couldn't he just take his thoughts off the Council, off that ridiculous mission to Shanthral, and put them aside so he could have a relaxing evening with his wife?

"Anakin?" Padmé's voice sounded worried as it dragged him out of his thoughts. "Is everything all right?" She shook her head. "You're distracted. What's going on?" Pursing her lips, she calmly put down her fork. "Is this something to do with the Council? Or something to do with Jaina Solo and that other Jedi?"

"I…" Anakin hesitated. Why was she always so perceptive? "It's nothing. Really."

Padmé frowned. "Anakin," she said firmly, "when are you going to start being honest with me? What is it?"

Anakin swallowed hard. As always, she did have a point.

"It's Obi-Wan," he said slowly.

"And?" she prompted.

"There's been some trouble on a planet far out on the Outer-Rim," he continued. "Something cryptic, they didn't really say what was going on. Obi-Wan volunteered to go."

"And you aren't allowed to go with him," Padmé remarked.

"Yes… how did you know that?"

She laughed. "Anakin, I may not know what's going on with the Council, but I _do_ know you."

"Point taken," he replied. "But, Padmé, the strange thing is… Obi-Wan wanted Jaina Solo to go with him. He _requested_ that she be sent on the mission, too. He told me that it was so that he could learn more about her, see if she means us any harm."

"Oh," Padmé breathed. She looked calmly at him. "That does have logic to it. But it is dangerous. Didn't the Council object?"

Anakin snorted. "No – they agreed with him. They _always_ agree with him and they _never_ listen to me. I objected to their decision, but no! They never listen to me, even when they should!" Anakin was unaware that his voice was growing steadily louder and louder; Padmé was startled by this.

"Ani –"

"It's like they don't trust me," Anakin concluded through gritted teeth, toning his voice down a little. "But, Padmé, it's worse. They've asked me to spy on Palpatine. _Obi-Wan's_ asked me to spy on Palpatine. That's what my position on the Council is – to give the Jedi Masters access to Palpatine's plans _through me!"_

"Anakin…" Suddenly, she was by his side, her hand on his shoulder, her calm voice trying to soothe him. "Anakin, they have their reasons. We are at war."

He turned sharply to look at her. _They have their reasons?!_ The angry thought echoed around his head for a moment before he responded.

"And what do you mean by that?" he asked, a steely edge to his voice.

Padmé glanced away. "I don't know."

Anakin reached out and grasped her hand. "Padmé, look at me." She did and he was startled to see something almost like fear in her eyes. "I could quit. But I'm not going to. I'm spying on Palpatine, not because Obi-Wan asked me to, but because there's a chance… a very small chance… that a Sith Lord could be controlling Palpatine."

She gasped, tearing her hands away from his to cover her mouth. "Anakin!"

"You're scared, right?" he asked.

She ignored him, but he could see the uncertainty in her eyes. He thought she _was_ scared.

"Anakin, that's horrible!"

"But what if it's true?" he demanded.

Padmé lowered her hands. "If it's true… things could get a lot worse than they already are." She glanced at the table, looking for a moment at their untouched dinner, and turned back to Anakin. "Do you believe it's true?"

"I don't know. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what's true anymore."

* * *

When Jaina gradually came to, it was dark out. When she groggily opened her eyes, the only light coming through her window was pinpricks of traffic moving at high-speed past the Jedi Temple. She slowly sat up, wincing as a dull ache in her head turned into a ferocious pounding. Rubbing her forehead, she turned her head and saw the outline of a man sitting at her bedside. He was sitting on a chair, but his head was resting on his arms, which were placed on her bed. He was fast asleep and snoring.

Kyp.

A strange feeling began bubbling up from the pit of her stomach. She pushed it away.

"Kyp?" Jaina asked hoarsely. Her mind dimly registered the fact that she needed water.

"What…?" He sat up, blinking blearily. "Oh, Jaina. It's you."

"Can you get me a glass of water?"

"What? Oh, water. Right." He got up and moved groggily across the room. A few moments later, she heard him fumbling around for a cup, an action that prompted him to swear loudly when he banged into something. After she heard the tap run, Kyp stumbled around her apartment before returning to her room with a full glass of water. He had managed not to slosh too much of it on the floor.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

She accepted the glass and drank greedily. Once finished, she put the cup aside.

"Did it occur to you to turn on any of the lights?" she asked mildly.

"I guess that means you're fine," he said, disgruntled. "Already back to the harassment. Wonderful."

Jaina cracked a smile. After what she had been forced to watch – no, _relive_ – she would take any attempts at humour to blot the painful memories out.

"How long have I been out?" she asked.

"About ten hours," Kyp replied.

"Can we turn a light on? I don't really want to be in the dark."

"Understandable." Kyp rose to his feet again, sauntered across the room and turned on the light. Jaina blinked, her eyes hurting by the sudden change, but she gradually became adjusted to it.

"Thanks," she murmured. She hesitated – she wasn't sure what to say next. If it hadn't been for Kyp, she would still be stuck in Palpatine's horrifying time prison where she had been forced to relive every single reincarnation of the moment of Anakin's death. Sometimes she had died with him, sometimes Jacen had been killed as well. But every time she had tried to save her brother and she had failed. If Kyp hadn't drawn her out when he had, she would have gone insane.

Which was most likely Palpatine's plan all along.

"Kyp," Jaina began, but Kyp raised a hand to silence her.

"Don't mention it," he said.

"Oh." Jaina was silent again. She looked at Kyp again; what he had done for her went beyond friendship. Not many people would venture into another's mind to draw them back from the edge of the abyss and even fewer people would have managed to do it unscathed. But Kyp merely looked a bit haggard and tired; he was unshaven and there were grey patches under his eyes, but his mind hadn't been affected.

There was no possible way she could thank him for what he had done. It went beyond thanking.

"I saw terrible things," she said, clearing her throat.

Kyp glanced up at her in surprise. "Jaina, you don't have to –"

She shook her head, silencing him. "What I _saw,_ Kyp… After Anakin died and Jacen was captured, I'd gone back to that day and thought of all the different ways I could have stopped it from happening. Now I know that it was impossible. If I had tried anything different, I would have gotten myself killed and probably Jacen, too – and Anakin still would have died. Even if I wanted to have it changed, I couldn't."

"Jaina," Kyp said, "Palpatine wants you to think that. He only showed you the negative possibilities. He repeated them over and over again –"

"No!" Jaina pressed a hand to her mouth. "It wasn't showing, Kyp – you have to understand that. _I was there._ I lived those moments. I tried to save him so many times, but I never could." She stifled a sob. She raised her head and looked up at the ceiling. It was plain and white – simple. Undecorative. It made her feel better.

"The most frightening thing about it," Jaina continued, "is how easily he captured me. He must have had that plan in mind all along, so as soon as I went to his office, he would be ready to spring the trap. I don't know how he did it, Kyp, but it scares me. What if it's you next? Or someone else? I don't think I could bear it if he did it to anyone else." She saw Anakin and Jacen's faces flash briefly in front of her mind's eyes. She choked back another sob.

There was a slight pressure on her hand. "If he can't find you, he won't be able to do it to you again." Kyp's voice seemed to be coming from very far away.

Jaina turned her face towards him. His green eyes seemed brighter than usual; she sensed he had a plan.

"What is it?" she asked quietly.

"Palpatine has threatened to kill you," Kyp began. "He's already tried to make you crazy by trapping you within your mind with a time portal so you relieve the most horrifying moment of your life. He's going to try to get to you again and as long as you are on Coruscant, that makes things easier for him."

"I think we've had this conversation before," Jaina interrupted, smiling slightly.

"Have we? I didn't notice. Anyways," Kyp continued, "we need to get you off-world. There's an easy solution to that, one that you were so desperate to walk away from earlier. Go to Shanthral with Obi-Wan Kenobi. On Coruscant, Palpatine will be able to find you. On Shanthral, he'll have to search an entire planet – and first he has to find out that you're there."

Jaina frowned. "I can't leave you here by yourself, Kyp."

"I can take care of myself."

"I'm not worried about that," Jaina said. "You tend to mess things up, that's all. What about Anakin?"

"_What?_" Kyp exclaimed, ignoring her question. "Hey, I just saved your life! Don't start arguments, Goddess, you owe me one. Besides, you mess things up more often than I do."

Jaina arched an eyebrow. "Really? What about the time when –"

"Don't remind me, please. You get off-world; I can take care of myself."

"For how long?" Jaina demanded. "Kyp, you could be Palpatine's next target."

Kyp shrugged. "If he does decide to go after me, then I'll do my best to fight off the assassins. And time warping portals that lock people inside their minds—"

Jaina's eyes flattened at his attempt at humour. "Don't."

"—and even if they get through and I die," Kyp continued, "our mission won't be over. You'll still be out there, fighting to save Anakin."

A lump had formed in Jaina's throat; she was having difficultly getting rid of it. "You're _not_ dying," she said stubbornly. "I'm the one who told him that I wanted to kill him – if anyone's dying, it's going to be me."

Kyp laughed shortly and then shook his head. "Take the mission, Jaina," he told her firmly, ignoring her last sentence. "Go off-world with Obi-Wan and take care of whatever it is on this planet that needs to be taken care of. If anything, it'll take you away from Palpatine. It'll keep you alive. I promised I'd look after you, and that's exactly what I'm trying to do. I'll hold things down here; I'll even try to be friends with Anakin and keep him away from Palpatine. Everything's going to be fine."

Jaina bit her lower lip. "Are you sure?" she asked. "There's an awful lot of things that could go wrong."

"And you're being uncharacteristically worried," Kyp responded. "I promise everything's going to be fine."

Jaina frowned. "I still don't like the idea of us splitting up."

"Think of it as us creating more hell for Palpatine," Kyp told her, grinning. "He won't be able to get rid of us both in one go this way. That attempt on your life was one step away from getting both of us."

"That's not funny," Jaina said crossly. "Okay. I'll do it. I'll go talk to Obi-Wan, if he's still awake at this hour."

"You better clean yourself up first," Kyp advised. "You look a mess."

Jaina smiled shortly and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. As she did so, she became aware of the reason for the pressure on her hand – Kyp had it firmly clasped in her own. He quickly withdrew it and she gave him a strange look – what was the reason for that? Deciding not to pursue the question, Jaina ushered Kyp out of her room while she changed clothes and tried to clean herself up.

The sooner she talked to Obi-Wan, the better.

* * *

Kyp had fallen asleep on a couch by the time she had changed clothes and since he was snoring soundly, Jaina decided not to wake him. Leaving her quarters alone, she wandered around the Jedi Temple in an attempt to find Obi-Wan. She decided that she definitely liked the Temple better at night; there was less commotion and most of the halls were empty. She felt that it was the only time when she could appreciate the building.

"Knight Solo?"

And there he was. Jaina was wandering down one of the main hallways when Obi-Wan appeared in front of her, seemingly by coincidence.

Or perhaps not.

"I was just looking for you," they said simultaneously.

"Oh," Jaina said. "Sorry. Kyp told me that you wanted to speak with me."

"Yes," he said. "I was wondering if you would reconsider accompanying me on the mission to Shanthral."

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Jaina paused. "I take it the other Jedi Masters aren't thrilled with me right now, right?"

"I wouldn't say they're overly fond of you after your theatrics yesterday," Obi-Wan said blandly.

"Didn't think so." Jaina sighed. "I guess I didn't really give any thought to it at all. But now that I've had time to reconsider, I suppose that I will take this mission to Shanthral. I apologize for yesterday."

In the half-darkness, it was difficult to read Obi-Wan's expression. "Thank you, Jaina," he said. "It is appreciated."

"One question, though," Jaina said. "Why me?"

Obi-Wan hesitated before answering. "You have some qualities that I think will be useful on Shanthral," he said finally. "It's late, Jaina. You had better get some sleep; we'll be leaving tomorrow morning." He gave her instructions to the docking bay and told her that he would notify the Jedi Masters of her decision.

"Good night."

"Good night."

Jaina stood in the corridor, alone in the dark, for several long moments. _Well, at least that's done._ She had just sealed her fate. She was abandoning her old mission.

She desperately hoped that Kyp wouldn't regret suggesting it in the first place.

* * *

Jaina didn't sleep at all between her meeting with Obi-Wan and the time when the sun began to rise. Instead, she threw together a pack and then sat down on the couch opposite the one Kyp was sprawled across. As the time of her departure from Coruscant drew nearer, he showed no signs of waking. Finally, Jaina crossed the room to have a few final words with her friend.

"Kyp," she said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

He grunted in response.

"I just want you to know that if anything goes wrong, this was _your_ idea," she said. "And if anything does go wrong, I'll carve out your guts."

"That's nice," he murmured without opening his eyes. "Good luck to you too, Jaina."

"And don't you go dying on me," she told him firmly. On impulse, she kissed his cheek. Kyp's eyes opened and he stared at her in a strange way.

"Take care of yourself," he said.

Jaina smiled tightly. "You too."

By the time she left the room, he had fallen asleep again.

Knowing that it would be best to leave as quickly as possible before she changed her mind, Jaina rapidly made her way through the halls of the Jedi Temple, heading for the docking bay that she and Obi-Wan would leave from. When she arrived, she was greeted by Yoda and Mace Windu. Yoda was his usual self and Mace Windu had a deep scowl on his face. Clearly, he didn't trust her and he wasn't going to start trusting her, either. After a quick exchange of words where she assured them that she and Obi-Wan were going to find the source of the Shanthrai problem as soon as possible, she walked over to their ship that they were going to take.

Its design looked vaguely familiar. The ship resembled an oval split into three sections with the middle being the longest. Jaina's eyes narrowed as she scanned the ship – she was almost positive that this was an YT-model, probably one that came previously to the YT-1300 she was so familiar with.

"What type of ship is this?" she asked Obi-Wan as they boarded.

"It's an YT-1150," he replied. "It's a very popular model for smugglers."

Jaina chuckled – almost _all_ the ships in the YT series were popular with smugglers. As she went to close the ship's ramp, she glanced over her shoulder. Yoda and Mace Windu were still standing there, waiting for them to take off, but just behind them was Anakin Skywalker. Even at a distance, there was no mistaking his dark scowl.

Jaina sighed heavily and closed the ramp. There was nothing she could do now – it would be up to Kyp to keep an eye on her errant grandfather. As she walked through the ship's corridors, she felt a deep sense of guilt. She was, essentially, abandoning her original mission, even though Kyp thought it was for the best. Before leaving Mustafar so long ago, she had sworn to herself that she would put saving her grandfather from the Dark side above everything else.

Naturally, there were complications – such as Sith Lords marking her for assassination and attempting to lock her in her mind with nightmarish moments from her own past.

Putting the thought aside, Jaina threw her pack into the small cabin and went to join Obi-Wan in the cockpit. He was sitting in the pilot's seat, getting the ship ready for take-off. Jaina paused as she went to sit in the co-pilot's place.

It had been such a terribly long time since she had last piloted a ship. She remembered, all too vividly, the sight of Mustafar's fiery red mass looming in front of her X-Wing as she descended towards the planet and the fate she would eventually meet there. How she longed that she had never gone to Mustafar in the first place – then none of this would ever have happened.

"Can I fly?" she asked suddenly.

Obi-Wan spun his chair around and he looked at her, raising his eyebrows. "You haven't flown one of these before."

Jaina shook her head. _But I have flown an YT-1300 and they can't be too different,_ she thought. She caught herself before she said the thought aloud – she wasn't sure if the YT-1300s existed yet.

"I can manage," she said instead. "If Anakin can figure out how to fly a breaking ship, believe me I can easily figure out how to fly this."

Obi-Wan gave her a curious look, but moved out of the pilot's chair.

"It's all yours," he told her.

Jaina smiled briefly and sat down. She glanced at the control panel, quickly getting the layout into her head. After a few moments, she strapped herself in, motioning for Obi-Wan to do the same, and gently steered the craft up into the air. As soon as they were off, she relaxed into a very familiar mode. Flying had always calmed her down and as the ship zoomed away into Coruscant's atmosphere, Jaina felt like she had left all her troubles behind on the ground. No time travel, no fear of failure, no worries about her grandfather, no Palpatine. This was just her and flying.

Obi-Wan coughed, bringing Jaina back to the present as the ship sped away from the planet. Jaina glanced at him, her absent-mindedness crashing down around her and her thoughts circled chaotically in her mind. As she prepared the ship for hyperspace, she trembled with a kind of excitement. She needed to have a clear head for whatever was ahead and whatever Shanthral might hold for her.


	20. Shanthral

**CHAPTER X****X**

**Shanthral**

Jaina sat in the pilot's chair of the YT-1150 ship, swinging the revolving seat impatiently as she drummed her fingers on the arm rests. They had made the jump to hyperspace some time before and it would be several days before they reached Shanthral. Now there was nothing to do but wait.

Feeling slightly bored, she raised a hand and examined her fingernails. They were normally neatly cut, but due to the persistent stress and anxiety that had filled her for these past days, her nails were ragged from the many times she had been subconsciously biting them. Making a face, she lowered her hand and continued to tap her fingers on the arm rests of her chair.

A guilty feeling had been creeping upon her for a couple hours now. Though she reminded herself that she had been forced into taking this mission, that there had been no way around it (though she felt like arguing with Kyp once again on that point again), she could not forgive herself for abandoning her first mission – a mission of utmost importance – for something that would be hardly more than a sight-seeing trip. True, it might very well save her life from any further assassination attempts, but Jaina felt guilty for abandoning her cause. If she had done that on a mission back home, the consequences would have been dire. But here, the only consequence she had to face was her own guilty feelings.

And an ice-cold chill that ran down her back whenever she thought of what Palpatine had tried to do to her.

Pushing the memories of what she had seen away, she wondered vaguely what her parents would think of her taking a side-trip with none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi. She chuckled to herself as she pictured her mother's incredulous expression and her father's voice saying, "If you say so, kid."

Obi-Wan Jaina felt a tingling feeling go down her spine. She recalled vividly the times when she had been growing up listening to her uncle's stories about the days when he had fought with the Rebellion. She remembered, quite clearly, loving the stories of Luke's journeys with General Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the greatest Jedi to ever live. She had always wondered what he had been like, this wise Jedi Knight who had fought so hard to protect what he believed in, the man who ultimately sacrificed himself to save the lives of his student and his friends, the man who had seemed hardly more than a legendary figure from the distant past.

And now she knew. Who would have believed that _she_ would be sent on a mission with the very man who had first instructed her uncle? Who would have guessed that she would someday meet one of the most iconic Jedi ever to exist? No one, of course.

Jaina shuddered. That was a different world now. If she traveled back to her proper time right now, who knew what the Galaxy would be like?

She heard the door to the cockpit slide open and she glanced over her shoulder. Obi-Wan entered, having returned from checking their cargo.

"Is everything all right?" she asked casually.

He nodded and sat down in his chair. "Yes. I was just double-checking, that's all."

Jaina folded her arms and pursed her lips. The difficulty with Obi-Wan was that he was such a quiet person; he never let anything he didn't want others to know escape him. He was extremely difficult to read and though she knew she could trust him, she didn't like the fact that she could never guess what was going on inside his head. For example, she still did not know why he had chosen her – out of all the people he could have picked – to join him on this mission to Shanthral. He could talk for hours about her "useful qualities," but she could read straight through the lie. He had other motives; she just couldn't figure them out, even after spending several hours with him on the ship.

"Is there something wrong?" Obi-Wan asked her suddenly, shooting her a concerned look.

"Oh!" Jaina said in surprise. She quickly uncrossed her arms, guessing that he had thought that there was something wrong because of her posture and hard expression. "No, no… nothing." She paused, wondering that if she asked the question she was burning to ask, would he simply restate his previous reason?

Obi-Wan nodded to her and said nothing more, turning his back so he could examine the controls of their ship.

"There is one thing, though," Jaina said.

"Yes, Jaina?" Obi-Wan asked, not turning around.

"Tell me the truth. _Why, _exactly, did you choose me to come on this mission?"

She watched him freeze. His left hand was clenched into a fist that he held so firmly that his knuckles turned white. After a moment's pause, he swung his chair around to face her. His expression was placid. He chuckled.

"Jaina," he said mildly, "there is nothing I have told you that isn't true. I just believe that you are talented and are loyal to the Jedi Order."

"Oh." Evidently, she wasn't going to get that information easily. "I suppose that's a good thing," she said dryly, "considering that half the Jedi Council still seems to hate me so much."

He smiled slightly. "Don't be perturbed by Anakin's actions, he's just being cautious. As he has a right to be."

Jaina raised her eyebrows. "So, Anakin doesn't like me, then?" she asked. Well, that was wonderful news. This could become quite difficult for Kyp if he wasn't careful. Hopefully Anakin wasn't as mistrustful of them as Mace Windu was…

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said, jolting her out of her thoughts, "is Anakin. When things don't go his way, he lashes out at them. It's a fault that I have tried many times to correct, but he is… stubborn."

Jaina chuckled. It must be a family trait. She frowned, thinking of what Obi-Wan could possibly mean when he said that Anakin lashed out at the offending person when things didn't go his way.

"Anakin wanted to come on this mission," she said. "Right?"

Obi-Wan's eyebrows narrowed; there was a perplexed look on his face. "You're very perceptive, Jaina."

"Why didn't he come, then?" Jaina pressed, knowing that she was on to something. "I mean, everyone knows how great a team you two are; I heard it all over the Jedi Temple. The two of you are infamous around the Galaxy! Surely after I refused the first time, you would have—"

"Anakin already has an assignment," Obi-Wan interrupted her. "And I'm sure you realize how unintelligent it is to drop one task and pick up another mid-stride."

Jaina choked and forced herself to keep a composed expression. "Of course," she said blandly, trying to ignore the shameful feeling rising in her. "It is most disrespectful to drop a mission before you complete it." _You're such a hypocrite, Jaina_, she berated herself furiously. _Although, it really was Kyp's idea in the first place._

"However, I am glad that Anakin was not able to come," Obi-Wan continued. "I'm sure you will be a great help." He smiled mildly. "After all, you're already proving yourself an expert pilot. You've done everything perfectly and you haven't even flown this type of ship before."

"Oh, I..." Jaina searched for something to say, flustered. She wasn't expecting that compliment; all she had done was pulled them away from Coruscant and steered the YT-1150 into hyperspace. "Thanks," she said finally. "It must be a family trait. My father and grandfather both flew very well."

Obi-Wan's raised his eyebrows. "You remember your family?" he inquired. "I was under the impression that you were… orphaned."

Jaina cursed silently. She couldn't remember clearly what she had told the Jedi Order about where she had come from.

She needed to stop making such off-hand remarks.

"Um… well," she said slowly, "when I was growing up I heard a lot of stories about them. Sort of how you would hear stories about… er… great Jedi Masters." Inwardly, she scolded herself for not managing to keep her story straight and promised herself that she would never mention her family again.

"Of course," Obi-Wan said mildly. "Yes, hearing stories about your father and grandfather is comparable to us hearing tales about various Jedi Masters."

"Um… yeah," Jaina said. "Would you excuse me? I need to check something in my pack." She stood up and quickly left the cockpit.

* * *

The next several days passed without event. Obi-Wan and Jaina mostly kept to themselves, Obi-Wan by meditating and Jaina by attempting to ignore the constant feeling of guilt that rose up from the pit of her stomach.

When the YT-1150 ship finally exited from hyperspace and zoomed towards the planet below, Jaina looked out the viewport and gasped in amazement at the lush greenish-blue and white planet below.

"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed as she flew towards the planet.

"Indeed it is," Obi-Wan agreed.

From a distance, Shanthral appeared to be a dark green sphere, the smooth green interrupted only by twisting knots of blue; these were the forests and seas of the planet. White clouds swirled in spirals in the atmosphere. It was truly one of the most beautiful planets Jaina had ever seen.

Jaina carefully piloted the ship through the atmosphere, heading for the settlement that they had been instructed to visit first. The settlement, built in the only clearing they could see for miles, was little more than a hectic and chaotic conglomeration of lopsided buildings built out of a mixture of durasteel and wood.

The comm crackled to life as they soared towards the nearest available landing platform.

"Unidentified vessel, please identify yourself."

Obi-Wan reached for the comm. "General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight Jaina Solo requesting landing permission," he said. "We are here as a request from the human colonies."

"Permission to land granted."

The YT-1150 soared towards the landing platform and settled gracefully upon it. Once they had landed, Jaina unbuckled her crash webbing and turned to Obi-Wan.

"Shall we go?" she asked.

He nodded.

As Jaina gathered their separate packs from the cargo hold, Obi-Wan sent a transmission to the Council on Coruscant to give them an update on their position. Once finished, they descended the ramp, walking from the ship to the landing platform. As Jaina exited the YT-1150, she felt her skin tingling. It was a sensation not unlike the one she felt when she had first stepped on to the dais in Augustine's chamber on Mustafar. She shivered. That seemed like such a long time ago now…

Once on the landing platform, Jaina glanced around quickly. There was the normal chaos that filled any docking bay, makeshift though this one was. Speeders zoomed right and left, flying only several feet above the dirt roads that had been made between the jumbled buildings. On either side of the road, a steady stream of people hurried about on their own business.

Jaina breathed in deeply – the air here was fresh, very fresh. Beyond the line of buildings she could see the towering figures of massive, green trees. Far off in the distance, she could see the outline of tall silver mountains. She stared at them, as if hypnotized. She was suddenly filled with a deep desire to visit those mountains; though she could not understand what it was, she knew that there was something of great value, something she _had_ to find, waiting for her in there.

"Jaina!" Obi-Wan's voice was very loud.

She blinked, coming out of her stupor. "Sorry," she muttered and tried to adjust the weight of her pack.

"Come on," Obi-Wan said. "I believe there's someone waiting for us."

Sure enough, as they walked down the steps of the landing platform and stepped on to the dirt road, Jaina saw a short, nervous-looking man waiting for them. He had wispy grey hair that barely concealed his scalp and his face was very weathered and battered-looking. There was a very anxious expression on his face.

"General Kenobi," he greeted Obi-Wan in a high-pitched voice. "Knight Solo. I am Ilic Quon. As representative of the settlements of Shanthral, I am very honoured to meet you."

"Thank you for the welcome, Master Quon," Obi-Wan said, "but I am afraid we do not have time for pleasantries. The message we received was urgent. Could you tell us, in more detail, what exactly the problem is?"

"Ah…" Quon's hands fluttered nervously. "Let us not stand here; I shall tell you about the Shanthrai on the way to one of their villages. I believe it is of vital importance that we get there as soon as possible."

Without a further word, Quon beckoned for them to follow him. They climbed aboard his speeder, greeted his driver and soon they were zooming off down the road, joining the throng of traffic.

"The Shanthrai," Quon told them as they flew through the twisting streets, "as you probably know, are the natives of this planet. They keep mostly to themselves; they send a representative to each of the settlements once a month bringing gifts – animal skins, fruits, baskets woven from tree branches, that kind of thing. The closest village is about a thirty minute flight from here."

"Do you have any of your own people living in the villages with the Shanthrai?" Jaina asked.

Quon shook his head. "No, but we send various groups over each week to check on them. I myself am one of the missionaries. That is how we discovered this… problem in the first place. We are all about connections, Knight Solo, so you see we are trying desperately to understand them, to be able to communicate with them. However, we seem to be able to manage nothing except a few vague forms of sign language. Interestingly enough, they seem to understand us perfectly.

"About three months ago was the first time we realized that something was terribly wrong with the Shanthrai," Quon continued. The speeder had left the conglomeration of buildings while they were speaking and it was now flying at top speed through a thickly vegetated forest. "First all we could understand was an overpowering sense of fear. They were afraid to see us, they were afraid to come out of their homes. Then we noticed that their numbers were dropping… there seemed to be fewer and fewer Shanthrai inhabiting the village – and it wasn't because they were all hiding in their homes." Quon hesitated, taking a deep breath. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. "We suspected some kind of that some kind of infectious disease, a plague, was inflicted upon them. It was a logical explanation, as they were distancing themselves from us. We wary of contact, but then they sent a messenger to our settlement."

"And what did he say?" Obi-Wan asked calmly.

"_She,"_ Quon corrected, "told us that something was taking them. Kanthrai risked her life to warn us of what was happening but we could not understand her at first. After many days, she finally managed to communicate her entire message. She said there was a great danger in the mountains. A dark person… a horror abducting the Shanthrai during the night that leaves no traces. Hunters had gone missing during the day, never returning. The village was beginning to starve because every Shanthrai who left the boundaries of the village never returned. This included the hunters."

A lump had formed in Jaina's throat. She swallowed hard. What kind of person would first abduct the members of an innocent species and then try to starve those who remained?

"How long ago was this?" she asked.

"Two months," Quon replied. "But it got worse. In response to Kanthrai's plead for help, we sent out our own scouts to look for this 'dark person' she had mentioned. We sent twenty men out and only one returned. He died shortly after returning. There wasn't a mark on his body and upon examination, he was unaffected by any disease. We still do not know what killed him."

Jaina shivered and pursed her lips. This was very odd. "Did he say anything before he died?"

"Yes," Quon said. "He told us to beware the mountains. It was strange, because Kanthrai had mentioned that there was… a calling in the village. A calling that all Shanthrai could feel; a call from the mountains."

"Then that must be where the villain is," Jaina said. _Obviously_, she added to herself.

Quon nodded miserably. "I was one of the first humans to ever come here," he said, his expression distraught. "I came out of hopes of establishing a link with a new species, Knight Solo. I wanted to find new delights in the Galaxy; uncover new, glorious mysteries. But what do I receive? Horror. Utter horror."

Jaina bit her lower lip. She felt terrible for the poor man, but the devastation he knew was nothing compared to what Jaina had faced when the Yuuzhan Vong invaded. She wanted to sympathize, but a harsher part of her mind refused to do so. She shoved it away. "Please, Master Quon," she said gently, "is there anything else?"

He sighed heavily. "Before returning to her village, Kanthrai gave us one last request. She had heard, through contact with our many missionaries who visited the village, about the Jedi. She had heard rumours about the Force, something which interested her greatly. She never stopped asking questions about the Force." He hesitated and sighed again. "She told us that if we could not do anything to save the Shanthrai, then she requested that the Jedi come. Kanthrai truly believed that you could do anything."

"All we can do is help," Obi-Wan said. "But, believe me Master Quon, we will do everything in our power to stop these terrible acts right now."

Quon's wilted expression brightened slightly. "Thank you, General Kenobi. We must save the Shanthrai. I would not be able to live with myself if they continued to die."

The speeder was slowing down, though the trees still whipped past them so fast that it was impossible to tell one tree from another. Soon enough, Quon's driver brought the speed of the vehicle down so much that they merely drifted between the trees. After they passed between two thick-trunked, red-barked trees, they glided into a large, sunny clearing.

In the centre of the clearing was what was obviously a Shanthrai village. The speeder came to a halt at a respectful distance away from the clearing, right near the edge. Quon told Jaina and Obi-Wan that this was to keep the Shanthrai from being startled. They slipped out of the speeder and walked through the knee-high grass that grew in the clearing towards the village.

The Shanthrai village was built in a circular fashion. There was only one road in and out of the village. This road, which was more of a wide path of crushed grass that had been trampled by many feet for many years, circled gradually inwards. Buildings were constructed on either side of the road, made completely out of wood with thatched roofs; they were lined with circular windows and each door was also a circle.

"It's interesting that they seem to have an obsession with circles," Obi-Wan remarked as they walked down the road. They had come across no Shanthrai yet and neither Jaina nor Obi-Wan were certain of where Quon was leading them.

Quon smiled for the first time since they had met him. "We believe that it has something to do with being surrounded by trees."

Jaina quickly stifled a laugh. "Why?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You have obviously spent too much time on urbanized planets," Quon replied, looking unimpressed. "The trunks of trees are roughly circular. Have you ever seen a tree stump? Next time you do, note the annual rings. I believe that is where the Shanthrai get their architectural ideas from." He sounded rather waspish as he said that.

Around and around they went, following the single road. As they passed house after house, Jaina began to get the feeling that she was walking through a ghost town. There was no one in sight. Vaguely, she wondered whether the Shanthrai's mysterious 'dark person' had kidnapped them all.

"Here we are," Quon said quietly.

They rounded one last curve in the road, and found themselves staring at a strange sight. The road ended in a kind of town square in the very centre of the village, although this town square was more of a circle. In the centre of the circle was a wilted tree, its branches drooping and its leaves faintly brown. The circle was bordered on all sides by wood houses.

Kneeling by the tree was a short, humanoid person who Jaina suspected was one of the Shanthrai. The Shanthra's back was turned to them; he or she seemed to be attending to the tree. Jaina saw a long, curling tail poking out from under the long, animal-skin robe the person wore. As they approached, the Shanthra turned around sharply.

Though the face was strange and alien, Jaina could tell that the Shanthra they were looking at was female. She had a dark, brownish coloured face streaked with patterns of grey and white. Her liquid black eyes were distinctly oval shaped; it was impossible to tell where her pupils were because there were no whites or irises to be seen. Her nose was long and angular, her lips no more than a straight line. Instead of hair, the Shanthra had elegant, bronze-coloured horns that curled gracefully around the side of her face, hooking beneath her very long, pointed ears.

"Shan-Quon-thrai!" she exclaimed, her voice much lower than Jaina had expected. She then uttered something completely unintelligible, her words a series of high-pitched and low-pitched sounds. Jaina noticed that as she spoke, the tips of her ears folded and unfolded in precise movements.

Quon was nodding as the Shanthra spoke, a smile on his lips. As soon as she had finished speaking, the smile was replaced with a frown and he turned to Jaina and Obi-Wan.

"I'm sorry, but I did not understand a word she said," he told them. "This happens frequently. I've been trying for years to pick up the language, but it is impossible. Even with translator droids helping me…" He sighed. "Never mind. There is no need to burden you with the mysteries of language. This is Kanthrai." He gestured at the Shanthra with one hand and approached her calmly.

"Shan-Quon-thrai!" the Shanthra repeated, her black eyes wide.

"Kanthrai," he said, his nervous voice sounding oddly high-pitched in comparison to the words they had just heard from the Shanthra. "These are friends." He spoke very slowly, emphasizing each word. "Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jaina Solo. They have come to help the Shanthrai."

"Shan-shanthrai-thrai?" Kanthrai's low voice said, sounding bemused. "Shan-kithrai noa ilri dae noffa-thrai?" Her ears twitched, moving in time with her words.

"Yes, they've come to _help_ the Shanthrai," Quon said slowly. _"Help." _He made an odd movement with his hands, as if he was trying to gesture the idea of 'help.'

Kanthrai giggled and clapped her hands together. Jaina noticed that her hands were very long and angular and her fingers ended in very long, curving talons.

Quon sighed. "She finds gestures very funny," he muttered. "Try not to use them if you can't, all you'll get is laughter." He turned back to the Shanthra. "Obi-Wan and Jaina are _Jedi."_

Kanthrai's eyes widened in awe. "Shan-_Jedi_-thrai?" she said, saying the word 'Jedi' almost reverently.

"_Yes,"_ Quon said. "Jedi. Come to help you."

Kanthrai stared at Jaina and Obi-Wan, her dark eyes unreadable. There was a long pause in which no one said anything. Then Kanthrai inclined her head.

"Shan-stay here and wait, please-thrai," she said and darted off towards the nearest wood house.

Jaina's eyes widened in surprise – _that _had been no Shanthrai babble she had heard. But how did Kanthrai suddenly know Basic?

"What did she say, Master Quon?" Obi-Wan asked.

Quon shrugged. "How should I know? It takes me days to get the meaning of one sentence out of her."

Jaina frowned, confused. "But… didn't you hear her?" she asked. "She told us to wait here."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. Quon stared at her, flabbergasted.

"You… you... you _understood_ her?" Quon spluttered.

"Yes," Jaina said. "Didn't you?"

Quon did nothing but stare in amazement at her. Jaina glanced up at Obi-Wan, who was smiling mildly at her.

"It appears that you might have a talent for deciphering foreign languages," he said dryly.

"But – but didn't you hear what she said?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I honestly heard nothing but the Shanthrai language, Jaina," he replied solemnly.

Suddenly, they heard a commotion from the direction of the house Kanthrai had just disappeared into. Fifteen Shanthrai scrambled out the door, all shoving each other to get out the fastest. Behind them came Kanthrai, a triumphant smile on her face.

"Well, it seems you are about to meet the Shanthrai," Quon said. "And I think it is time for me to leave. I wish you the best of luck." With that, he darted away down the road, a look of incredulity still on his face as he left.

"He seemed very keen to leave," Obi-Wan remarked as the Shanthrai crowded around them, chattering in their language. Jaina kept her ears open, hopeful to hear something she could only understand, but the Shanthrai language had reverted back to gibberish in her ears.

Jaina wasn't sure how long they stood there, the subject of much chatter and curiosity. Soon the first group of Shanthrai were joined by more and more of their kind as the Shanthrai appeared from their houses. Jaina was amazed at how many of them there were; soon at least fifty Shanthrai were crowded into the tiny square, all of them gawking and pointing at the Jedi.

Jaina stood, forcing herself to smile, as she was pointed at and stared at. Beside her, Obi-Wan tried to communicate with the Shanthrai, but he received nothing but cries of "Shan-shan-shan" and "Thrai-thrai-thrai."

"I can't understand a word they're saying," he said to her ruefully after several minutes of trying to explain why they were here to a group of bright eyed Shanthrai.

Jaina smiled shortly. "To be honest, neither can I."

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed as he looked around at the chattering Shanthrai. "Watch their ears."

"I'm sorry?"

"Their _ears,_" he repeated, cracking a slight smile at the sound of the incredulity in her voice. "See how they always move whenever they speak?"

Jaina frowned and watched as the Shanthrai babbled amongst themselves. What Obi-Wan said was true. Whenever they spoke, their long, pointed ears furled and twisted; whenever they stopped talking, the Shanthrai's ears ceased moving.

"It's a form of sign language!" Jaina exclaimed. "Like they're enforcing or adding to what they're saying by moving their ears!"

"And that would explain why none of Quon's translator droids would have been able to pick up the language," Obi-Wan said. "It isn't entirely based on sound."

Suddenly, Jaina felt something poke her arm. She turned around and found herself staring down at Kanthrai. One of the Shanthra's steel grey talons was prodding her arm insistently; however, the talon was not sharp enough to pierce Jaina's skin.

"What is it?" Jaina asked.

Kanthrai babbled something, her voice sounding partially frightened, partially awed. Jaina watched as the Shanthra's ears twitched rapidly. As soon as she stopped speaking, Kanthrai's expression darkened exasperatedly and she grabbed hold of Jaina's arm, pulling her through the crowd of Shanthrai.

"Hey, what are you—?"

Kanthrai's head whipped around and she scowled. "Shan-_no_-thrai," her low voice whispered insistently.

Jaina froze. There it was again! A word – a Basic word! But this time, beneath the Basic were tones of the Shanthrai language; she was sure of it. It was as if she had heard both languages simultaneously.

"All right," Jaina said.

Kanthrai led her to one of the wood houses, but instead of going inside, they rounded around to the other side of the house, out of sight from the large group of babbling Shanthrai. When they reached their destination, Kanthrai let go of Jaina's arm and sat down in a field of tall grass. She then patted a spot on the ground beside her insistently. Jaina obliged and sat down beside her.

The Shanthra fixed her with a piercing stare, not saying a word. Jaina looked back, keeping eye contact; she shivered.

"What is it?" she asked.

Kanthrai shook her head and broke eye contact. Her fingers twisted together in her lap; she looked perplexed.

"Shan-it's you-thrai," she said quietly.

"What about me?" Jaina asked, bewildered.

Kanthrai's innocent face was contorted into a strange expression. "Shan-you… your presence here is unnatural-thrai. Shan-it feels like you should not _be_ here-thrai!"

Jaina exhaled sharply. "What do you mean?"

Kanthrai pursed her lips so hard that they all but disappeared. "Shan-I… I do not know how to say this-thrai. Shan-it seems that you do not belong in this… this time-thrai!"

It felt as though the bottom of her stomach had fallen out. Jaina was barely aware that her breathing had increased.

"What do you _mean?"_ she repeated, her voice low.

Kanthrai looked terrified. She shook her head quickly. "Shan-it is nothing-thrai."

"Tell me," Jaina insisted. A sense of horrified shock was growing within her, barely under her control. How did this Shanthra, an alien from a species she didn't know, a person she had only just met, know that she wasn't from here? Did they have some inner instinct that allowed them to sense time travelers? It was the only logical conclusion. But what did that mean for _her?_

Kanthrai then took hold of her hands, startling Jaina out of her thoughts. Jaina felt the cool edges of the Shanthrai's long talons pressing against her skin, but it didn't hurt. Kanthrai closed her eyes. Jaina watched as the Shanthra's expression became one of deep concentration.

_Jedi?_

The sudden sound of Kanthrai's voice echoing in Jaina's mind knocked her off-balance and she toppled over in the grass. The force of the Shanthra's presence was astounding.

Kanthrai's eyes snapped open and she looked over at Jaina, a look of concern mixed with horror crossing her face.

"Shan-oh, no-thrai!" she cried. "Shan-are you all right-thrai?"

Jaina sat up quickly and nodded. "Yes, I'm all right. I just wasn't suspecting…" Her voice trailed off. Mace Windu had described the Shanthrai as Force-sensitive. The power of the Force here was almost mind-boggling. And after what Kanthrai had just done, was it possible…?

_Kanthrai?_ Jaina asked tentatively, sending her thought out.

_Yes?_ Kanthrai answered eagerly. This time, Jaina was ready for it. She braced herself as Kanthrai's presence overwhelmed her.

_Please, try not to be so forceful when you're communicating to me, you're going to make me fall over again,_ Jaina replied, slightly amused, slightly exasperated.

Kanthrai's mixed skin tones flushed a strange shade of green.

_Yes, Mistress Jedi,_ she said, pulling back a little in the amount of force she had used to send her thoughts.

_That's better,_ Jaina complimented her. She paused. _But don't call me Mistress Jedi. It makes me sound old._

Kanthrai smiled briefly. _I am sorry. What shall I call you, then?_

_You can call me Jaina,_ Jaina replied. _That's my name. _

_Jaina?_ Kanthrai sent inquiringly.

_Yes._

_Jaina!_ Kanthrai's thought exclaimed and for a brief moment, Jaina was treated to an overdose of the Shanthrai's emotions.

_Stop, stop, stop!_ she yelled.

In response, she sensed Kanthrai's puzzlement clearly through the Force.

_Yes, Jaina?_ Kanthrai asked, bewildered.

_You need to learn how to cover your emotions,_ Jaina told her firmly. _Right now I'm sensing everything you're feeling. _

Kanthrai flushed green once again.

There was a certain amount of strangeness to the situation, Jaina thought as she patiently taught Kanthrai how to cloak her emotions. Here she was, stranded in the wrong time, on a planet she had never heard of, teaching the basic rules of telepathy to a complete stranger whose species just _happened_ to be extremely Force-sensitive. This would normally be impossible, but recently Jaina had been adapting a habit of facing the unfeasible.

The Force acted in such strange ways sometimes.

The Shanthra was a fast learner, which Jaina was thankful for. As long as Jaina stated everything matter-of-factly, Kanthrai could pick it up. However, she couldn't cover everything she felt – her elation at succeeding in Jaina's first instruction bounded through the Force like a shockwave.

For a moment, the two women sat quietly in the tall grass, not communicating. Jaina wasn't sure what to say. Something about trying to save the Shanthra's species seemed appropriate, but she wasn't certain where to begin.

It was Kanthrai who broke the silence first.

_Jaina, I have something to ask you,_ she said slowly.

_What is it?_

Kanthrai paused, looking away. _My species is dying,_ she said quietly. _We face extermination. The others you saw in the square by the Tree… there are few villages left. Every other village lies deserted. A dark force has taken them, abducted them from their homes, from the forest paths as they went hunting. _

There was a hard, cold feeling in the pit of Jaina's stomach. She felt her fists clench.

_I do not think we can last long,_ Kanthrai continued. _I believe this is the end of the Shanthrai. I have done all I can for us. I went to the Human People in their village to ask for help, risking my life in doing so. They believed I would be captured and it was not something many people wanted me to risk. I, a Shanthra of great status, risking her life to talk to those who visit our home without permission. Some call it disgraceful. _

Jaina pursed her lips, uncertain of what to say. _Listen, Kanthrai. We can help. Obi-Wan and I – the Jedi Council asked us to come help you. We will find the person who is doing this and stop him. _

Kanthrai raised her head and stared at Jaina, her liquid eyes afraid. _But will even you return?_ she asked. _We have lost some of the bravest of our kind – my father. My cousins. And Anthreio… my betrothed. _

Pity for this poor girl washed over Jaina. She could feel the anger boiling deep within her – anger at the person who was tearing this species apart, creating an act of genocide. It was unforgivable. Now that she was here, she would do anything in her power to stop any more Shanthrai from being abducted.

_Kanthrai_, she said, _I promise I will stop this. Whoever is doing this should be very afraid – because _I'm_ coming to find them. And luckily for me, I know where they are._ She remembered all too well the feeling that had washed over her the moment she arrived on the planet; the calling that filled her with a deep desire to go to the mountains. She knew that that must be where the dark force Kanthrai spoke of must be hiding.

A faint smile touched Kanthrai's lips. _Yes,_ she said. _We know, too. In our minds and in our hearts, every Shanthrai knows where the evil is: the mountains. _

_Exactly,_ Jaina said. _The mountains._


	21. Questions

**CHAPTER XXI**

**Questions**

Kyp Durron strode impatiently down a wide hall in the Jedi Temple, ignoring the frequent glares he received from various Jedi Knights, Masters and Padawans. For two consecutive days, he had managed to irk almost the entire Jedi Order and Kyp was beginning to wonder whether they might impose some kind of restraining order on him to keep him from pacing, irritated, around the Temple.

Ever since Palpatine had attacked Jaina and she had left for Shanthral, Kyp had found himself in an extremely bad-tempered mood brought on partially from anxiety and partially from lack of sleep. After saying goodbye to Jaina, Kyp had spent almost an entire day sleeping. The effort that had been required to pull Jaina back from the mindlock had completely drained his energy. However, once he had restored what had been lost, Kyp found that he _couldn't_ sleep due to an unprecedented amount of questions, concerns and problems that constantly sprang to mind.

Had he done the right thing by sending Jaina off-world? Would she be safe on Shanthral? Kyp fervently hoped that she would be, but it was impossible to know how Palpatine would react when he discovered that she was no longer on Coruscant. The Sith Lord's interest in Jaina was worrisome. How long had he been watching her? Palpatine had known who they were from the moment they had encountered him on the _Invisible Hand_. A dark suspicion was starting to form in Kyp's mind – what if Palpatine's trick had merely been a test? Had it been an attempt to test their limits, to see just how far they were willing to go?

A sudden, horrid realization dawned on Kyp.

"Shavit!" he swore under his breath.

This hadn't been aimed at Jaina.

This had been aimed at _him._ Palpatine already knew all he needed to know about the Skywalker-Solo clan. Jaina would be too easy for him to read – predictable, even. The Sith Lord could travel through time. If he was keeping close watch on Anakin in _this_ era, Kyp had no doubt that Palpatine would also want to know everything about Anakin's future descendants, no matter which "version" they were. Palpatine would know just how to deal with a Skywalker.

Kyp knew that he himself was an entirely different matter.

Even if Palpatine had gone into the future to observe Kyp's potential future lives, the act would most likely have been done _after_ he and Jaina had arrived in this time period. After all, what possible interest could Palpatine have had in him before? There were thousands upon thousands of Jedi in the future. Palpatine could not have had the chance or interest to observe them all.

Palpatine did not know anything about him at all, which – considering the way the Sith Lord planned – made it all the more logical that Jaina's attack had been aimed at _him _and not at Jaina herself. Palpatine was testing him; he wanted to know what he was up against. Jaina was only half of the equation.

_You could be Palpatine's next target._

A test, a trap – how far would Palpatine go before he was finished toying with them? Jaina's fears for him were rational. They were quickly losing control of the situation. It was as if they were playing a long, complicated game of Dejarik and Anakin's fate was the prize. Palpatine's latest move – Jaina's entrapment – had been a well-played fork that would cost them. At what price, Kyp didn't know. Jaina's life? Her sanity?

His own?

It had been a well-executed move. Now that Palpatine knew Kyp's own limits, Jaina's fears might very well come true. Kyp had told her that he could look after himself merely to keep her from arguing with him. After what she had been through, she didn't need to worry about him. But it was impossible to know what Palpatine was going to do next. Just like a fork in Dejarik, Palpatine had been targeting them both with his assault on Jaina. He had forced them to act, to make a choice, and they had chosen to send Jaina to safety.

Or relative safety. Who knew how long it would be until Palpatine discovered where she was? And what then? Would he attack her again, or would he target Kyp?

It was a no-win situation. Kyp was trapped until Palpatine made his next move. Trapped and alone, now that he had done what he had thought was best. Even now, as he paced the halls of the Jedi Temple, he had never felt more anxious. Without Jaina, this world was foreign to him. Despite the time he had spent here on Coruscant, the Old Republic remained unfamiliar and the Jedi Order alien. Without Jaina, their mission here seemed even more unattainable.

Had he done the right thing sending her away?

Kyp wasn't sure. It was impossible to know if she was safe on Shanthral or not. It was impossible to know because they could not know what Palpatine was planning next.

_Damn it, we've been playing right into his hands!_

Tests and traps… Kyp shuddered as he remembered Jaina's expression when he had rescued her from her nightmarish prison. Frightened – petrified, even. He was starting to get the feeling that it wasn't so much what Palpatine had forced her to live through that scared her, but the fact that he could do it. That attack had been the last thing they had been expecting – after all, who had ever heard of someone trapping another within their own mind and forcing them to relive their worst experiences a hundred times over, each with a different outcome?

He had never seen Jaina that scared before.

_She's changed,_ Kyp thought. She was no longer the Jaina Solo he had known. She wasn't the same woman who had fought alongside him in the Yuuzhan Vong war, she wasn't the person he had briefly taken as an apprentice. She wasn't the person he had tried to help when she had brushed the edge of the Dark side after Anakin died and Jacen was captured. She wasn't the same Jedi who had been given the title _Sword of the Jedi_. Hell, she wasn't even the same person who had agreed to take Augustine's mission into the past.

Settling disputes and fighting crime lords during the two years after the end of a brutal war had had almost no lasting effects on Jaina Solo. She had changed because of her travel through time. Meeting her grandparents, seeing the legends that her uncle had told her about and coming face to face with a nemesis who knew everything about her had impacted her unlike anything had before. Jaina was a fighter, but Kyp knew that if Jaina didn't come to terms with her surroundings soon, the accumulation of these events would begin destroy her – if they hadn't begun already.

_Did Augustine know what he was doing when he sent Jaina and me back in time?_ Kyp wondered. _Did he have any idea what would happen?_

Augustine the mysterious professor… Augustine the time traveler. How could he, let alone anyone else, know what was going to happen? As Kyp remembered it, Augustine had sent them backwards in time out of desperation, their last chance to stop Darth Sidious forever.

So far, he wasn't doing a very good job. If Augustine was a time traveler, couldn't he at least journey through time for just a _moment_ and give them some advice?

Perhaps not.

Kyp was beginning to wonder whether he regretted his split-second, off-hand decision to join Luke on his mission to Mustafar that day. It was a hazy memory now, lost forever in the folds of time. Kyp remembered that he had chosen at the last moment, out of boredom than anything else.

Boredom! Kyp barked a short laugh. It was ridiculous. Half the time, he felt as though he lived for the moment, as if he couldn't survive without the suspense and thrill of being on a mission. The other half of the time, Kyp wondered how much of an idiot he could be at times. If he hadn't been "bored" the day when Luke had mentioned the Mustafar mission, he wouldn't be here right now.

Kyp didn't even want to think about where he'd be if he _hadn't_ been on Mustafar when Jaina had been selected – no, _ordered_ – to travel into the past for one last, desperate attempt to save her grandfather.

With Jacen dead, the weight of the universe had been set on her shoulders.

Until _he_ had convinced himself that he better join her just to keep her out of trouble, as Jaina was incapable of doing that herself. Perhaps it was a Skywalker/Solo trait, but wherever Jaina Solo went, trouble was not far behind. More than once she had gotten herself in so deep that she needed someone to pull her out.

It had been a split second decision, and Kyp had volunteered to fill that position, lest havoc break loose. As much as he had wished he could trust Jaina as the sole saviour of the Galaxy, her fiery personality could have quite possibly been the destroyer of her mission had she gone into the past alone. She needed to have someone looking out for her.

_And you're doing a great job so far,_ Kyp snarled to himself.

Jaina had been threatened; now she was gone, off to Shanthral. Who knew when he would see her next? Would she be safe with Obi-Wan? Perhaps she would be. As long as there was someone there… but what did Obi-Wan know about her? As dear as she was to him, Kyp couldn't deny the truth. Jaina was very volatile.

Just like he had been in his younger days – and still was, to some extent.

Kyp shook his head. There was no point on dwelling on what had put him in his current situation. The decisions, the actions taken – they were all in the past and there was nothing he could do about it now. He still had a job to do. After all, _someone_ had to deal with the ever-temperamental Anakin Skywalker on his own.

Kyp quickly reviewed everything he knew about the Chosen One. Bad-tempered, powerful, passionate, rash and arrogant – the ultimate Skywalker. That in itself would have been bad enough, as Kyp knew after many years of dealing with Skywalkers. However, Anakin was friends with their ultimate enemy, and it was a friendship that ran deep. Somehow, Kyp had to find a way to break that bond between Sith Lord and Jedi Knight. If Anakin remained under Palpatine's grip, they might as well call game-over.

This task, hard enough on its own, had its difficulty amplified by the fact that Kyp hadn't seen Anakin Skywalker for several days. Since reviving himself after Palpatine's attack, Kyp had searched every inch of the Jedi Temple, asked every Jedi, but Jaina's grandfather was nowhere to be found. When he had inquired several times as to where Anakin might be found, the only straight answer he received was that Skywalker was in a meeting with the Jedi Council.

The absurdity of that repeated answer grated on Kyp's nerves. Anakin couldn't possibly spend that much time in meetings with the Jedi Council. That in itself would be enough to turn him to the Dark side.

So, if he wasn't constantly in meetings with those dry old Jedi Masters, where was he?

Two answers came to mind: Palpatine's office and Padmé Amidala's suite in 500 Republica.

* * *

When Anakin Skywalker returned to the Jedi Temple that morning, his mind was still full of thoughts from the night before. He was filled with conflicting emotions – delirious joy from spending time with Padmé battled against impatience, irritation and frustration from the rules of the Jedi Order. The fact that he was constantly sneaking around just so he could spend time with his wife was rapidly wearing down his nerves.

_How long is this going to last? _Anakin growled to himself. _To hell with the Jedi Order! _

If it wasn't for Padmé's gentle reminders and Anakin's own deeper desires, he would have walked out on what was effectively his adoptive family long ago. He _should_ have done that. Padmé didn't deserve to be separated from him this way. His children didn't deserve it. The rules and regulations imposed on them from some drafty old Jedi Masters who were so ingrained in their traditions that they were blinded by them would destroy his family before it even had a chance to begin.

Anakin had had enough. As soon as the children were born, he was leaving. For good.

_And the Lost Twenty will become the Lost Twenty-One,_ he mused. What good was being a Jedi if he couldn't spend time with those he loved most? The Jedi lived isolated lives, disconnected from any _real_ emotion. Anakin couldn't afford that anymore.

He smiled as he remembered Padmé's words from the night before.

"Your kids are a rowdy pair," she had remarked wryly.

"Oh?" he had replied, confused. "What do you mean?"

Padmé smiled. "They're kicking."

"Kicking?!"

She had laughed at his astonishment. "Oh my Ani," she had murmured to herself. "Come here."

He had gone to her then, and she had gently placed his hand on her swollen abdomen. Sure enough, he felt something and then jumped as Padmé winced.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. They kicked me in several different places, that's all."

"Maybe they're punching as well," Anakin had replied dryly, trying to keep an innocent expression.

"Ha ha, very funny, Anakin."

Padmé had looked very uncomfortable then, and so Anakin had cautiously sent out his thought, looking for the minds of their unborn children. He had found the twins' minds with ease, and they had reacted curiously and excitedly to his presence.

_Settle down, you two,_ he had told them sternly. _You're making your mother uncomfortable._

The moment, however, did not last. As soon as the sun came up, reality sank back in.

_If only the Jedi Order wasn't in the way! _Anakin thought as he trudged away from the landing platform. _Everything would be perfect._

Or almost perfect. One tiny part of Anakin's mind refused to let him forget about Palpatine and the dangerous, threatening possibility Obi-Wan had warned him about: Palpatine could be under the control of a Sith Lord. Anakin was appointed representative on the Jedi Council and he was his friend – he could not, _would not_ abandon Palpatine like that. Anakin could not turn his back on him when he knew that the Chancellor might be in terrible danger. In order to protect Palpatine, Anakin had to remain a Jedi. He had to stay with the Order.

It was unfair.

The Order enforced boundaries upon him – boundaries that Anakin did not agree with. It was a backwards society, one that held the concept of love above all others but did not understand it. And what the Jedi did not understand, they banned. Love – true love – was forbidden to them.

But not to Anakin. He had released himself from those boundaries long ago; in fact, he had never been bound to them. He had been raised outside of the Jedi Order by someone who had known how to love: his mother.

Anakin swallowed hard as Shmi Skywalker's face flashed before his eyes. He forced the memories back. They still haunted him, even after all these years. Briefly, he recalled the dusty landscape Tatooine as he had run to give his mother one final hug before leaving with Qui-Gon Jinn. And it had been so soon after that he met Obi-Wan. Little did he know at the time that the Jedi Padawan he had been so excited to meet would soon become his Master and one of his best friends.

_I wonder what he's doing now,_ Anakin thought briefly. He supposed that he should be used to it by now, but whenever Obi-Wan was away on a mission, things were never the same around the Temple.

However, thoughts of Obi-Wan reminded Anakin of exactly _who_ had been chosen to accompany him on his mission to Shanthral. Anakin growled to himself as Jaina Solo's face flashed through his memory.

_Snarky attitude… Mid-Rim Sieges… Sneaking up on Padmé for Force knows what… _

Anakin didn't trust her, and he never would. Obi-Wan's plan to test her, to see if she was trustworthy, had a high probability of backfiring. Jaina had a few impressive tricks with the Force, but that didn't change the fact that she was _foreign._ Her backstory was flawed, her knowledge of current events was weak – she was a suspicious character and absolutely not to be trusted.

_She refused the mission at first._

That was puzzling and only served to enhance Anakin's distrust. Clearly, there was something here on Coruscant that she wanted to do, or find – but what could it be? And what had caused her to so abruptly change her mind?

Anakin looked up at his surroundings at that point, dragging himself out of his musings. As he did so, he saw someone standing a little ways away down the hall from him. Anakin came to a stop.

Durron.

Jaina Solo's partner.

Anakin found the sharp-eyed Jedi imposing much more often than he would like. Despite the few strands of grey in his dark hair, Durron acted like a much younger man, giving off an impression of vigour and vitality. Of the few times that Anakin had seen him, he seemed composed and cool, the complete opposite of his companion. However, there was also a dark, foreboding nature around him – one that Anakin did not like at all.

Furthermore, Anakin had heard from several Jedi Knights around the Temple that he had been looking for him. For what reason, they never said.

Anakin felt himself tense, but he continued walking.

Solo and Durron – out of the two of them, he had only ever had a proper conversation with the former since the events on the _Invisible Hand_. However, he had seen them many times at the Temple. They were always together, whispering to each other – secretive, elusive, almost never speaking to the other Jedi. Out of the corner of his eye, he had watched them – just as he felt they were watching _him._ Their eyes were always on him. It was disturbing.

They behaved unlike any other Jedi Anakin knew. Separate or together, both Solo and Durron were mysteries.

Mysteries set Anakin's teeth on edge.

Durron was observing him from afar, his eyes narrowed, his expression unreadable. In a split second, Anakin made a decision.

"Durron!" he called as he moved forwards down the hall.

"Yes?" the other man replied, his voice sharper than Anakin had expected.

Anakin came to a halt several feet away from him. "I heard you were looking for me."

"Did you?" There was no change in his expression. "You must have heard wrong."

It was with difficulty that Anakin tried to keep his scowl from becoming too prominent. The question _what do you want? _was forming on his lips, but he hastily cut it off. Several things flickered through his mind instead.

"Was there something in particular that you wanted?" Durron asked.

Anakin paused. "I have a question for you," he said bluntly.

"And?"

Anakin folded his arms, hesitating while he thought of the correct way to word his question.

"If I was on a mission," he said slowly, emphasizing the last word, "would it be a good idea to let my companion take a side-trip?"

Durron looked unimpressed; a flicker of annoyance flashed in his eyes. "Listen," he said firmly, "I have no control over what Jaina wants or doesn't want to do. Only she can make up her mind and she doesn't have to listen to a word of advice I give her."

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "So, she's the one in charge then?" he asked brusquely.

Durron raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Anakin snorted. _He's bluffing,_ he thought.

"You know perfectly well what I mean," Anakin replied hotly. "You and Jaina Solo have a mission here and it's not something _you_ want to tell the Council."

Durron didn't reply and his expression remained stony.

"Don't try to play dumb," Anakin continued, "I've _seen_ you and her together. All over the Temple, always together. And you two… you're different from the rest of us. You don't _act_ like Jedi. You have all the skills, but you don't seem like Jedi."

Durron actually laughed at that. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"Oh, please," Anakin snarled. "You know _exactly_ what I mean. And be warned – I'm going to find out what it is you're doing here. I'll prove the Council wrong, prove that you aren't trustworthy."

"I don't know where you're getting your crazy ideas," Durron retorted, "but you're not making much sense, Skywalker. You're on the wrong course."

"Am I?" Anakin snapped. "Then why did Solo change her mind about going on the mission? First she was adamant that she wasn't going to go – shocked the entire Council, too – and then the next day she's already joining Obi-Wan—"

"A piece of advice, Anakin," Durron interrupted, "from someone who's been around a lot longer than you have. Don't jump to conclusions. It's a bad habit that often gives you a wrong, untruthful impression of someone. If you're so curious about Jaina, then ask her yourself when she gets back. I'm sure she'll be absolutely thrilled to talk to you."

Anakin stared at him, unsure of what to say. _Don't jump to conclusions…_ Oh, really! When was the last time he had done that?

"Very well, then," Anakin said. "I'll do just that."

Anakin stalked away down the hall, seething with frustration and annoyance. Who was Durron to give him advice? Anakin didn't need any advice! He received enough of that from Obi-Wan.

As he walked away, Anakin shot a dark look over his shoulder at Durron. All of his answers had been veiled. He was clearly hiding something, but until Anakin found out _what_, he couldn't do anything about it. He needed proof.

He was determined to get it, no matter what. If Durron and Solo were just barely even _connected_ to a Sith Lord, they were endangering the Jedi and Palpatine. If he found proof of that, Anakin knew that he would do everything in his power to stop them from doing anyone any harm.

* * *

As Kyp watched Anakin leave, he was more than slightly troubled by their conversation. Anakin clearly didn't trust him and he was fishing for answers. Sooner or later, he would get them, but hopefully before he jumped to any more wrong conclusions. If Kyp chose to tell him the truth, how would he react?

Kyp had a feeling that Anakin would take the information the wrong way.

"Frustrated, Skywalker is, by your presence here," a familiar voice commented.

Kyp spun around and saw Yoda standing some feet away, leaning on his gimer stick. His expression was, as per usual, unreadable. It was always impossible to tell what Yoda was thinking.

Kyp looked down at the small Jedi Master and nodded in reply. "Yeah, I kind of got the message."

"And angry you are, too, by the decision of your friend, yes?" Yoda asked, although it sounded more like he was making a statement.

"Not angry, no," Kyp replied. At least, he wasn't angry at _Jaina._ If he was angry, it was because the business with Shanthral was tied to Palpatine and to Kyp's own decisions. In that case, his anger was directly at least partially at himself.

"Humph."

Kyp sighed; nothing was ever hidden from Yoda for long. The Jedi Master obviously knew that he was hiding something.

"Jaina, she…" Kyp shrugged. "It's complicated."

"Hmm…" Yoda tapped his stick thoughtfully on the floor. "At least, lost Jaina this time, you have not. Heh. Know where she is, you do."

Kyp smiled bleakly, remembering the last time he spoke to Yoda. "Yes."

"Heh." Yoda leaned on his stick. "Confused still, you are. Come. Talk, we will."

He began moving off down the corridor. Kyp had no choice but to follow him.

* * *

There was some sort of comforting power about the serenity of Yoda's simple living space. Unlike Kyp's own quarters, which only gave off a sense of practicality, Yoda's home echoed with calm wisdom and tranquility.

Kyp sat on a pod chair, sinking into the peacefulness, barely listening to the ancient Jedi Master speak quietly. He was distracted by his own thoughts of Jaina and Anakin and all the problems they had faced since coming into the past, and all the problems they _would_ face if they ever wanted to get back home in one piece…

"What know you of the Dark side?"

The question startled Kyp, jolting him awake. "Sorry?"

"What know you of the Dark side?" Yoda repeated his question firmly.

Kyp shifted uncomfortably in his seat. What did he know of the Dark side? Many things – in his long career as a Jedi, he had seen its work more than once. Having once touched its power, he knew how fulfilling it could be. He understood how Dark Jedi and Sith Lords could possibly become obsessed with the idea of power. He knew how disastrous the results were when someone fell of the Dark side, not so much out of watching Palpatine murder a friend or hearing of Darth Vader's terrible deeds, but because he knew from personal experience. His wounds from the day Exar Kun had invaded his mind still existed; even though he kept it deeply buried, the memory of what had happened Carida at his hands never left his mind.

"Hmm?" Yoda prodded.

Kyp ran a hand through his hair. "Uh… I know of its power." He hesitated, giving himself enough time to make sure that he wouldn't reveal anything… stupid. "I know," he continued, "what can happen when a Jedi takes control of the Dark side. I know its effects. I've seen them first hand."

Yoda made no response; his ears twitched slightly. It seemed as though he was waiting for Kyp to continue.

"Master Yoda," Kyp said, "I'm not sure exactly _why_ you brought me here to talk about… about the Dark side."

"Humph!" Yoda said. "You know not much, it seems, Knight Durron."

Kyp smiled slightly. "Yes, well –"

"Help us find Sidious, yes, you agreed," Yoda said abruptly. "Testing your knowledge, I am. Know your opponent, it seems you do."

Kyp frowned. He couldn't see where this was going. "Master Yoda –"

"How fight you the Dark side?" Yoda continued.

Kyp paused. He had fought the Dark side many times, but putting his battles into a definition seemed impossible. It was indescribable. "Uh… I'm not sure."

Yoda stared at him, his eyes penetrating. He required an answer.

"Um," Kyp tried again. "You fight the Dark side with the Light?"

"Heh!" Yoda tapped his chair with his fingers. "Yes! To fight the Dark side with the Dark… Unspeakable things can happen. Fear light, darkness does. Darkness dies _in_ the light. Remember that, you will."

Kyp blinked, puzzled. "What does –"

"Know of the Dark side, say you," Yoda interrupted, raising a hand. "To fall to the Dark… No! Darkness fought with darkness, _work_ it will _not._"

"Yeah, I kind of figured that," Kyp muttered. Was there a point to this conversation?

"Think on this, you shall," Yoda said. "Talk again, we will." He pointed to the door with his gimer stick.

As Kyp left Yoda's quarters, he couldn't help wondering what the Jedi Master had been talking about. _Fight the Dark side with the Light…_ Was Yoda, in a very odd manner, telling him about the future?

Cold fear plunged to the pit of his stomach. Would they fail? With Jaina gone, the chance of using Anakin's connection to the future to save him was gone as well. Would they have no chance of preventing him from falling to the Dark side?

Kyp shuddered as he walked down the hall. Questions, questions, and more questions. With each question answered with another question, Kyp seemed to be getting nowhere.


	22. Issues of Trust

**CHAPTER XXII**

**Issues of Trust**

_There is a steady downfall of pouring rain. Water is everywhere – falling from the trees, the branches, from his own hair. It streamed down his face, seeping into every pore in his skin. He is drenched, but still he cannot move. There is no place to hide. _

_There are people running in every direction. Some may be his friends, some may be his enemies – he can't tell who is who. They are all strangers to him, blank faces he cannot name. There are clone troopers, diving between the trees of the jungle, chasing people he cannot see. Someone screams his name, but he does not turn around. He has eyes and ears only for one person. _

_The person trapped beneath the clutter of metal. The person who is left alone in the rain, bright fire exploding around her, blood soaking her clothes, coating the side of her face. _

_Padmé. _

_He screams, but he cannot even hear his own voice. _

_Everything dissolves into silence and there is a burst of blinding whiteness. _

_The rain is persistent. _

_He stands alone in the jungle. It is dark; he can barely see. The mound of metal is still there, but it is no longer burning. He finds that he cannot move; his legs do not want to work. Otherwise, he would have run as fast as he could towards her, to help her. _

_She lay__s there, his beautiful angel, cold and still as if lifeless. He wants to reach out to her, to hold her, but he knows he cannot move._

_Suddenly, someone is there beside him, pulling him away. _

"_We have to go."_

_The voice is familiar. Is it his own? He can't recall if he has spoken or not._

"_We can't stay here!" Those words are not his. Anakin glances to one side and sees a second person.  
_

_Obi-Wan. _

_His cloak is smeared his mud, one side of his face blackened and bloodied. There is panic in his eyes. His lips are moving, but Anakin can't make out the words. Instead, he looks around wildly and tries to reach for his angel again, but someone is stopping him. He looks to his right and sees another Jedi. _

_The man's face is concealed by his long black hair, wet with rain. One hand is held limply, crushed and bruised – it is broken. His clothes are stained by both mud and blood. _

_The wind howls. The rain thunders to the ground. _

_The man turns and glances at Anakin and for the first time, Anakin sees the wild expression in his green eyes. He is struck by a sense of fear. _

_And then everything dissolves in blackness. _

Anakin woke with a start, gasping for breath. The dream had been so vivid it was still imprinted firmly in his mind. He could still see and hear every detail, from the thundering rain to the words Obi-Wan had spoken to him – and Padmé's limp body, lying motionless beneath the mound of metal.

Anakin glanced sideways at Padmé as if to reassure himself that she was still there. She lay silently beneath the covers, her hair spread across her pillow, fast asleep. Anakin sighed and forced himself to breath slowly, trying to calm himself down. Unsuccessful, he swung his feet over the side of the bed and got up.

Deciding that he needed fresh air to clear his thoughts, Anakin wandered out on to Padmé's veranda. It was the middle of the night, but Coruscant's traffic was still constant. A light breeze rippled through the air. Anakin leaned against a wall and closed his eyes, deaf to any sounds outside his mind.

The dream had changed tonight. Before, he had only seen Padmé, only seen her trapped limp body. But now he was not alone in the jungle. Obi-Wan was there and, to his utter confusion, so was Kyp Durron.

If Anakin wanted to, he could very well say that the dream was nothing more than a dream. But he knew better. More and more, he had been troubled by these dreams that more often than not turned out to be prophetic. And while Anakin wanted to ignore this one with all his being, he couldn't.

The planet he had dreamed of was out there somewhere. This event _would_ happen, he could feel it. Just like it had happened with his mother…

Anakin shuddered.

However far in the future this was, he didn't know. It didn't change the fact that this event would come to pass and Padmé…

Padmé would die.

Anakin felt his throat constrict. It couldn't be true. He _wouldn't_ let it be true. As long as he was alive, Padmé would not die. He wouldn't let it.

"Anakin, what are you--?" Her voice was light, and it faded away as she saw him standing on the veranda.

Anakin opened his eyes and looked at Padmé. Her brow was furrowed with concern and she quickly approached him and laid a hand on his arm.

"What is it?" she asked.

Anakin looked away, out at the Coruscant night. He couldn't tell her.

"Anakin." Her voice was firm.

He bit his lower lip and didn't respond.

"_Anakin."_ Suddenly, she was there in front of him, clutching his hands with hers. "Don't do this, don't shut me out."

Anakin shook his head. "Padmé, you don't need to—"

"Shh!" She raised a finger and placed it against his lips, silencing him. Her brown eyes were wide and filled with concern. "You have to learn to trust me, Anakin. I can't bear to see you like this. What did you dream?"

Anakin hesitated before answering.

"It was about you." His voice was flat, monotone.

"Anakin," Padmé said gently, "nothing's going to happen to me—"

"You're going to die, Padmé!" Anakin cried. "Over and over again, I've seen it – the same dream, always the same dream! And I can't… I can't _bear_ it anymore. The thought of you _dying…"_ He raised a hand and traced her cheek with his fingers. "I can't live without you, Padmé."

"It was just a dream," Padmé said soothingly. "Just a dream—"

"No!" The sharpness of his answer made her jump. "It wasn't just a dream. These dreams are _real_, Padmé, you've got to understand that. They're the future and I—"

"Anakin!" Padmé had reached out and was hugging him tightly. "Don't let these dreams bother you," she whispered, planting a kiss on his cheek. "As long as you're here, I'm safe. You know that. I'm not going to die anytime soon, so don't let it bother you. You need to stop worrying so much."

"How can I stop worrying," Anakin murmured, "when one of the people in that dream is Kyp Durron?"

"What?" Padmé breathed. Her brow furrowed again. "But… what does that mean?"

"I don't know," Anakin replied, "but I can still see it. Me, Obi-Wan and Durron, standing there, in the rain, unable to do anything. The jungle was burning, and there were clones."

"A jungle?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know where it is?"

"No."

"Can you describe it?"

Anakin paused and then gave her a brief description of the wet, tangled trees and thick vegetation.

Padmé listened carefully. She drew away for a moment, one hand resting gently on her lips before she turned back to Anakin. "And me?"

Anakin looked away. He didn't want to tell her.

"And me, Anakin?"

"You're trapped," he whispered. "You had been shot."

She blinked and her expression tightened. "I'm going to be _fine,"_ she murmured. "Anakin, this dream may be in the future, but you can't trust it to be exact. Trust your heart instead of your imagination. What does your heart tell you?"

Anakin looked at her and smiled briefly. "That I love you," he whispered."

"And?"

"And that I wouldn't let anything hurt you."

"Then nothing will," Padmé said. She took his hand in hers. "Come on – let's go back to bed. Forget the dream, Anakin. Nothing bad is going to happen."

Anakin only wished that he could be as certain about it as she was.

If he was going to stop Padmé from dying, he would have to start taking precautionary measures right now. That planet was a starting point. In his dream, he knew that at least two people would be with him – Obi-Wan and Durron. He couldn't ask Obi-Wan anything until he returned from Shanthral, but Durron was easily found. There had to be a reason for going to that planet with him, so the logical thing would be to ask Durron if he knew any jungle planets.

Even if it didn't lead anywhere, at least it was a start. And if he managed to find out what the planet was called, he would do everything in his power to avoid it.

* * *

Kyp Durron did not usually take much notice to his dreams. On the whole, he tended not to remember them. Except during the darker moments of his past, he had never been perturbed by what his subconscious invented. Dreams were dreams and that was that and he had never had a reason to close attention to them.

The one he had had last night was refusing to let go.

It had not been a disturbing dream or a nightmare – it was more perplexing than anything else, and he remembered it with precise clarity. Which was bizarre, because he usually couldn't remember them.

This one, however, persisted in being different in that respect.

In his dream, he had been standing in a large, empty room. The room was completely empty except for two people – himself and Jaina. There was no source of colour in the room at all – he viewed the dream in greyscale. The ceiling and the floor were white. Strangely, he was dressed in black while Jaina was clad all in white.

Jaina had been standing at the opposite side of the room from him. She had been looking straight at him, her face expressionless, her fingers entwined around a chain that hung around her neck. Strung at the end of the chain was a small gemstone that was the only source of colour in the entire room – a bright, glowing red that cast a crimson shadow across Jaina's face and chest.

Kyp had been holding something too – a deactivated lightsaber that he immediately realized didn't belong to him. Strangely enough, he recognized it as Jaina's. He had then proceeded to walk towards her to give her the lightsaber, but half-way across the room he had run into an invisible a barrier between his side and her side.

Unable to get across, Kyp had stood there, not sure of what to do next. Jaina had observed him quietly for a moment, and then shook her head. She turned, very slowly, and had began to walk away.

That was when the lights on her side of the room went out.

It was such a bizarre dream. Kyp wasn't sure what to make of it, and for that reason, it was beginning to grate on his nerves.

_I wonder what she's up to,_ he thought sullenly as he left his room in the Jedi Temple. Knowing Jaina, she had probably gotten herself into some sort of trouble by now. It was inevitable with her.

_Stop worrying!_ he snapped at himself. _Sithspit, Durron, what's gotten into you? She can take care of herself, she's not your apprentice any more. One tiny little side trip to some random planet isn't going hurt her._

Perhaps it was some long-lasting effect of his dream, but he was feeling overly irritable today.

"Durron!"

Kyp let out an exasperated breath. Walking towards him was another reason he was out of sorts today. His dealings with Anakin Skywalker were not going as smoothly as he could have hoped, and Jaina would have his head if things didn't change soon. Kyp doubted that was going to happen – most likely, Anakin was going to try to pick a fight with him again and Kyp wasn't sure if he would be able to avoid it, as he had yesterday.

"Yes?" he said shortly.

Anakin looked remarkably disheveled and the bags under his eyes said that he had barely slept. There was a wild look in his eyes. "You've spent a lot of time wandering around the Galaxy, right?" he asked hastily.

Kyp blinked, confused. Where the hell was this coming from?

"I suppose so," he said.

"Then maybe you can help me," Anakin said. "Have been to any jungle planets?"

_Jungle planets?! _Kyp stared at him, incredulous. After a moment of silence, Anakin continued on.

"Well, have you?"

"What's this about? Why _jungle planets?"_

Anakin's eyes flattened. "It doesn't matter _why_," he said stiffly. "Just tell me!"

"What are you looking for, Anakin?" Kyp asked, exasperated. "If you're fishing for information about my past, forget it – you already know everything that you need to, and should, know. What does it matter where I've been?"

Anakin's expression was stony. "I was hoping you would help me with something."

Kyp almost did a double-take. "What?"

"I'm looking for a planet," Anakin explained, "and all I have to work with is a description. Since you've traveled the Galaxy, I was hoping you would be able to help me."

Kyp frowned. Why was Anakin Skywalker looking for a planet? It was an odd thing to be preoccupied by. Even stranger was the fact that he had come to _Kyp_ for help. Why would he do that when he had all these resources available to him in the Jedi Temple?

"Why don't you check the Archives?" Kyp asked. "If you're planet's name is anywhere, it'll be in the all-knowing Archives."

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "The Archives aren't omniscient," he said.

Evidently the Chosen One wasn't understanding sarcasm today.

Kyp sighed. "Forget I said anything. What does this planet look like?"

"It's dark," Anakin replied. "Hardly any sunlight because of the thick vegetation – or at least I think so, the… uh… the holo I have was taken during a rainstorm. It's a jungle, but it's swamp-like. Have you been anywhere like that before?"

"Skywalker," Kyp grunted, "there are a lot of jungles in the Galaxy. If that's all you can come up with, I'm sorry. That's a general description. It's not enough information to work with."

Anakin's nostrils flared. "If I was Solo, you would help me, wouldn't you?"

Kyp froze.

"This has nothing to do with Jaina," he growled.

"You're avoiding the question!"

"Do you really need an answer?" Kyp countered.

Anakin's eyes hardened. "Are you going to help me?"

Kyp sighed. _Just play along with it!_ he told himself. _What's the worst that can happen? A headache, maybe, but nothing drastic. It's the only way you'll get him to trust you._

"I will."

Anakin looked surprised. "You will?"

"I will, Skywalker," Kyp said shortly. "I'll do my research, you do yours. And show me that holo when you have a chance. I'll find out what this planet of yours is."

Anakin cast him a suspicious look.

_Guess trust isn't going to happen,_ Kyp thought sourly.

"Why?" Anakin demanded.

"Does it matter?" Kyp snapped. He was starting to lose his patience.

"You're just as bad as _her!"_ Anakin retorted. "Split-second decisions—"

"Well, we _do_ come from the same place," Kyp interrupted. "And I can do without your criticisms, Skywalker. You asked for my help. I'll give it to you. Just keep the remarks to a low, all right? I get enough of them from Jaina."

Anakin's eyebrows went up. "You what?"

Kyp groaned. "We're not as different from you as you think, Skywalker," he said quickly. "Jaina's got a surprisingly similar attitude to your own."

Anakin barked a laugh. "Thanks for the shining endorsement," he grunted. "I remember what she was like on the _Invisible Hand._ I feel very sorry for Obi-Wan."

Kyp snorted. "You can't even imagine half of it."

Anakin folded his arms. "That's right, isn't it?" he said. "You've known her for almost all your life."

"Something like that." He was fishing for information again, Kyp could tell. Anakin was becoming very persistent. "I wouldn't worry about Obi-Wan," he said off-handedly, "Jaina should behave herself."

"Should?!" Anakin asked.

"I meant _will,"_ Kyp answered firmly, deciding that he needed to develop a better word choice. "She might have a snarky comment or two hidden up her sleeve, but on the whole she will be well-behaved. If she isn't, then I'll give her a lecture when they get back."

Anakin frowned. "Were you her mentor for any period of time, by any chance?" he asked.

Kyp decided to answer truthfully. "Yes," he replied. "Why?"

Anakin shrugged. "You sound like Obi-Wan talking about me."

Kyp had to admit that the comment confused him. As far as he was concerned, he was as opposite to Obi-Wan Kenobi as it was possible to be.

* * *

Padmé clasped her hands in her lap and stared down at them as she attempted to focus on something mundane enough to keep her mind from exploding. She sat in Bail Organa's office on the opposite side of his desk. Both Padmé and the Alderaanian Senator appeared to be engaged in a staring contest. Their subject – the small piece of flimsiplast that had been issued to all of the Senatorial Offices only an hour ago, almost as soon as the day's meeting in the Senate had ended.

Padmé's mind had become a blank wall as she trembled from a mixed combination of anger, fear and shock. The Senate had been in an uproar for the past two weeks; tempers were flying as they argued and debated about the last movements in the war against the Separatists. There were very few planets left under the control of the Separatists and repairs to recover what had been lost on the planets hit most heavily by the war had begun. Today, however, something happened that no _reasonable_ Senator could ever expect. It was something that Padmé had never believed Chancellor Palpatine capable of.

Despite the fact that the end of the war was plainly in sight and was drawing ever closer, a law had been passed. The new decree gave the Chancellor full power over the governing powers of each planet. He said that it was to help protect the Republic from future wars of a similar nature.

Padmé knew better. The Chancellor had been a friend and advisor to her many years ago, but this new decree…

It was unbelievable.

She couldn't accept it.

However, it was now staring her blatantly in the face – an innocent-looking piece of flimsiplast sitting on Bail Organa's desk titled "Sector Governance Decree."

"Padmé."

Padmé looked up at her friend and relaxed her expression as she saw him wince; the scowl that had previously graced had to have been reflecting her feelings very well.

"I know," he said. "It's preposterous. A blatant attempt to dismantle the Senate."

Padmé's mind was whirling. Inside, a battle between two opposite selves raged. Part of her agreed with Bail; the Chancellor's new decree was extremely obvious, anyone could see through it. This new law frightened her. Palpatine was an old friend, as the other half reminded her, and if she opposed this new decree… where did that put her?

"I don't know what to think," Padmé said, leaning back in her chair. "I've known Palpatine for years, Bail. He was my most trusted advisor. I… can't believe that that is his intent. And besides, if the Senate is ever demolished, where will that leave the people of the Galaxy? They'll have no representatives, no leaders to speak for them. It's something the Republic cannot afford. Chancellor Palpatine knows this. The Republic needs the Senate."

Bail shook his head. "Padmé, I know that you of all people know exactly what this new decree means. Why talk about preserving the Senate when we both know that as a practical matter, as of this morning the Senate no longer exists. All the power in the Republic has been transferred to the Chancellor."

Padmé pursed her lips, looking at her friend's grim face. His eyes were as hard as durasteel.

"Palpatine no longer has to worry about controlling the Senate," he continued. "With the Sector Governance Decree, he places his own lackeys as governors on every planet in the Republic, controlling them directly. He's become a dictator."

Padmé glanced away. Even though she was not prepared to believe this, she knew that Bail was right.

"_We've_ made him a dictator."

Padmé inhaled softly, trying to calm herself down. Her hand gripped the side of the chair she was standing besides, her knuckles turning white.

"Bail," she said, "I'm no happier than you about this."

"Something has to be done, Padmé," Bail answered. "We can't let a thousand years of democracy disappear without a fight."

"A fight?" Padmé exclaimed. "Don't say that – you sound like a Separatist! We don't need another war."

"That is not what I meant, Padmé," Bail said quietly. "But it's clear that Palpatine is an enemy of democracy. Very few Senators can see that; don't let your old friendship with him cloud your judgment, Padmé. You're one of the most influential voices of reason in the Senate. If any one is capable of making a stand against the Chancellor, then it's you."

Padmé sighed and clasped her hands together again, her fingers twisting together. Bail had a point – they could not sit by and let Palpatine gain more and more control over the Galaxy. The peaceful views of the Republic that had been established so long ago were rapidly being swallowed. Something had to be done. She could not sit by and watch the Republic she served be conquered by what could quickly become a dictatorship – or what was already a dictatorship, as Bail believed. Someone had to do _something. _

Even if that meant defying an old friendship.

Padmé remained quiet for a long moment before turning to Bail and speaking quietly. "Who else shares your opinions, Bail?" she asked.

"Mon Mothma," he answered. "Terr Taneel, Fang Zar. There is only a small number against the thousands of Senators who helped establish Palpatine's power."

"You're asking me for help," Padmé said. "If the Senate gave him these powers, then the Senate can rein him in. I'll try my best Bail. We will have to find others who will vote with us."

She sighed and raised her fingers to her temples. She had lost the trust she had placed in the man who had once advised her. The man _Anakin_ now trusted and considered a friend. Nothing was ever easy in times like these, but Padmé was comforted that her fears for the Republic were shared by others.

Bail smiled slightly. "Thank you, Padmé."

Padmé only nodded. If she went through with this, she would have to keep it from Anakin. Because of his friendship with the Chancellor, he could not know. And that struck Padmé as deeply and sharply as a vibroblade.

_Oh, my Anakin,_ she thought. _I am so sorry for what I must do._

* * *

When she returned to her apartment late that afternoon, she found that Anakin was already waiting for her. He was leaning against the wall by the veranda, staring out at the sky. It was a pose that Padmé recalled from the night before.

Worry clawed at her, partially stemmed from the anxiety that had come over her since today's proceedings in the Senate and her conversation with Bail. Had anyone seen Anakin come here? He had already spent many nights in a row with her here. What if someone noticed?

"Anakin?!" She tried to walk briskly across the room, but all she could manage was something of a hurried waddle. She eventually reached him, and clutched his arm, turning him towards her. "What are you doing here? What if—"

"Ellé and Moteé let me in," Anakin murmured, pressing his face gently into her hair and caressing her. "No one saw. No one will notice, I promise."

"Anakin—" She drew away, preparing herself for one of her gentle lectures about the timing of his visits, but immediately stopped herself. There was something in her husband's eyes that told her his mind was preoccupied. She changed course immediately. "What is it?"

He only stared at her.

Padmé sighed softly. Something was bothering him greatly. "Anakin, please tell me."

"How do you do it?" he murmured, leaning back against the wall again.

"Do what?" Padmé asked.

"Read people," he said.

Padmé raised a hand to her lips, confused as to what he was getting at. "What do you mean?"

"You're a politician, Padmé," Anakin said. "You can read people in a way that even a Jedi cannot. You can somehow decipher what ever little gesture means, every little change in tone. How do you do it?"

Padmé looked away, frowning. "I'm not… sure… how to describe it. It takes years of training and practice, Anakin. It's something I do automatically." She glanced back at him. "What is this about?"

Anakin's face had turned stormy. "I can't figure him out!" he hissed.

"Who?"

"Durron!" Anakin exclaimed. "Every time I _think_ I get close to the truth, he says something contradictory or just plain confusing. I don't get it!"

Padmé hurriedly stepped towards him and rubbed his arm comfortingly. "Calm down," she murmured. "It's all right. What happened?"

"I asked him for help," Anakin grunted.

"With what?"

He hesitated.

"With what, Anakin?" Padmé pressed. Though she spoke the words, from the way he hesitated, she knew exactly what it was: Anakin's dream.

The dream where she had been shot.

When he didn't answer, Padmé reached up and touched his cheek with her hand. "It was about your dream, wasn't it," she said. It was not a question. "Anakin, you shouldn't let these things bother you –"

Anakin pushed her hand away and walked towards the couches in the centre of the room, his back to her. "No, I should! You don't understand, Padmé." He stood still for a moment. "I can't bear to live without you and…" She saw him shudder. "And if that dream comes true, then you'll die."

"I'm not going to die, Anakin."

Silence.

Padmé had spoken firmly, but she knew that it would do no good. Anakin believed in his dreams. Every little vision he saw, he saw with such clarity that it seemed _real._ Padmé had had no prophetic dreams herself, and so it was difficult for her to understand, try as she might. But she could see that it was tearing Anakin to pieces, and it was becoming more than she could bear. She was strongly reminded of those days, long ago, when they had run off to Tatooine in order to prevent Shmi Skywalker's death, only to arrive too late…

Anakin would not let himself arrive too late this time. He would do anything to protect her, even though Padmé had her doubts about his dreams. One couldn't place too much faith in a dream.

_Although you _are _walking on dangerous ground,_ a small voice in her mind told her. _If you stand against the Chancellor, you could become a target. And then Anakin's dream could become the truth._

Padmé shook herself. No. There was danger, yes, but Palpatine would _not_ confront her in that way. He would not take such a drastic action as assassination.

She glanced at her husband and walked slowly towards him. "Anakin, you have to let go," she said, slipping her hand into his. "Please don't place all your trust in your dreams. It's not healthy."

"I know what I saw Padmé!" His eyes flashed dangerously.

"Do you?" Padmé asked. Her mind rapidly sorted through what Anakin had told her previously. "Then why go to Kyp Durron, of all people, to talk about your dreams? Wouldn't talking to Yoda be more… well.. helpful? How much can a stray Jedi like Kyp Durron be of help to you?"

Anakin didn't answer.

Padmé closed her eyes. He was keeping things from her again. What was it that he wasn't telling her?

_He's just like me,_ she thought. _What a hypocrite I am. I suppose keeping secrets is a department that belongs to both of us._

"Padmé, what's wrong?" Anakin's voice brought her abruptly back to reality.

"What?" she breathed, opening her eyes.

"You're trembling," he said. "Like crazy. Are you all right?"

"Yes, yes," Padmé murmured. "I'm fine."

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "What's troubling you?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." She smiled. "Just… politics. You don't want to talk about politics, you hate it."

"Yeah," Anakin said. "Yeah, I don't like politics."

Padmé nodded placidly. Inside, she was screaming at herself.

_You need to tell him!_

_I can't… I can't… I can't… Palpatine means so much to him. Can I rob him of that friendship?_

Her mind told her she couldn't. Her heart told her she could.

Instead, she pressed her face against his chest and murmured to him under her breath.

"Hold me."


	23. Palpatine

**CHAPTER XXIII**

**Palpatine**

The invitation came just as twilight began to darken Coruscant's skyline. Anakin was still at Padmé's suite when his comm buzzed and gave him a notification that he was to meet with the Chancellor at the Galaxies Opera. Though Anakin knew that the opera was one of the Chancellor's favourite pastimes, he had a strong suspicion that he was not invited there to discuss music.

Padmé reacted oddly when Anakin told her that he was leaving to meet the Chancellor. Her eyes refused to meet his and she jumped at his touch.

"All right," she said, kissing him lightly. "You better go, then."

"I'm sorry tonight's wasted," he apologized.

Padmé merely shook her head. "It's all right. The Chancellor is your friend. Best not let him down."

Anakin smiled slightly, but he couldn't help the shiver that went down his spine when he looked at her. For some reason, whenever he saw his wife, he saw the clear images from his dream. It was impossible to forget, the way she looked lying on the ground, broken…

He fought to keep the image from his mind as he turned to leave the apartment. As he went, he could have sworn that he heard a low voice murmur, "Be careful, Ani," behind him.

_It's you that needs to be careful, Padmé,_ he thought. _It's you that needs protecting, not me._

Preoccupied as he was by his dream, it took Anakin longer to reach the Galaxies Opera than normal. Knowing that Palpatine appreciated punctuality, Anakin ran down the long corridor towards the Chancellor's private box, navigating his way through the crowds of richly dressed spectators. When he finally came to a halt outside the box, the Red Guards who flanked the doors admitted him without question.

There were only a few seats in the Chancellor's box; they overlooked the rest of the audience, set high above the orchestra pit. The handful of seats was mostly empty – there were only three people there: Mas Amedda, Sly Moore and Chancellor Palpatine himself. As soon as Anakin entered, Palpatine turned around, a bright smile on his face. He waved a hand at his two aides, who promptly left, leaving Anakin and Palpatine alone.

"Sit down," Palpatine said. Anakin obliged.

They sat in silence for a moment, watching the opera – some type of aquatic ballet – unfold before them. Anakin had no interest in opera – Mon Calamarian or not – and stared moodily at it, his thoughts preoccupying him more than what his eyes were viewing. The dream he had had the night before… it had shaken him to the bone, and every time he thought more about it, the worse he felt. It was an ominous premonition, telling him that something was coming. Something terrible was drawing closer and closer and he might as well be powerless to stop it.

"I heard the Council has sent Obi-Wan Kenobi on a mission to Shanthral," Palpatine said calmly, jerking Anakin out of his thoughts.

"Yes, Chancellor," Anakin said absently, trying to pull his mind away from the dream that he could still vividly see in his mind's eye.

Palpatine shook his head and sighed. "It is distressing that the Council no longer gives you assignments. Your talents are wasted on Coruscant. You should be out on the field. That mission to Shanthral would have benefited from your gifts."

"Thank you, sir," Anakin said dully. Palpatine was right – he _should_ have been chosen for that mission. However, events conspired against him… "But the Council feels that I am no longer available for missions. I already have an assignment – representing you on the Council."

Palpatine smiled slightly. "Ah… yes." He paused and glanced at Anakin. "The Jedi Council. A group of frail, old Jedi Masters who cannot see talent even when it is staring them in the face."

Anakin turned away, looking back at the opera, watching the elaborate dancing of the lead singers. He was glad that Palpatine still supported him, still believed that he was capable of his many talents.

"But I believe that the Jedi Council is wrong in more ways than one," Palpatine continued. "It isn't just denying the talents of one of my friends. The Jedi Masters are becoming more and more of a political opponent, never trusting the judgments of the Senate. I cannot rely on them any more. That is why I put you on the Council. They are… plotting something. I can sense it. And if they have not yet tried to use you in their scheme, they soon will."

Anakin tensed – how did he know? How _much_ did Palpatine know about what the Council had asked him to do? Did he know that Anakin was, technically, a spy?

"You must sense what I have come to suspect," Palpatine said softly. "You know they no longer trust me. They have openly put their trust in two stray Jedi who they know nothing about –"

Anakin felt his fingers clench into fists as he remembered the past several days. Jaina Solo's attempts of squeezing information out of him; her refusal to accept the mission to Shanthral, followed by her abrupt turnaround. And then, perhaps even more puzzling than Solo, there was Kyp Durron – an mistrustful opponent who might hold to key to knowing where the planet was where Padmé would die; a vagabond who called himself a Jedi, yet refused to speak of his past and somehow, eerily, always knew when Anakin was searching for information.

"—rather than putting trust in people they know." Palpatine paused and looked Anakin straight in the eye. "You're upset about something, Anakin."

"No," Anakin said hastily, "no, I'm not. I –"

"I heard Obi-Wan Kenobi selected Jaina Solo to accompany him on his mission," Palpatine said softly. "Is that true?"

Anakin exhaled sharply. "Yes," he answered through gritted teeth.

"Ah." Palpatine leaned back in his chair. "And the Council backed this decision?"

Anakin nodded. "To some extent," he mumbled.

Palpatine straightened, his expression suddenly very keenly interested. "What is this?"

Anakin cleared his throat. "I wasn't there," he said, "but from what I heard, she refused the mission at first… then something happened to force her into accepting it. It was a split-second decision on her account and from what I know, she was quite adamant _not_ to go. I can't think of _why_ she would change her mind."

"Ah, yes," Palpatine said quietly. "Yes, this is exactly what I feared. The Council should have alerted at that very moment. They would have done well to arrest her the moment she refused. But they continue to trust her. They have chosen someone who they know absolutely nothing about – someone who is, I think, both dark and dangerous – for a mission over someone they both know has the talent and who they can trust."

"You suspect her, then?" Anakin said. "You suspect her of something… bad?"

"You can sense it, can't you, Anakin?" Palpatine said His voice grew more rapid as he spoke. "The darkness, the never ending darkness, coming closer and closer. Ever since these _Jedi_ arrived, even I could sense something… stirring. There is something terrible coming to the Galaxy, approaching faster than ever. And these two mysterious Jedi of yours have something to do with it. I can almost smell it. From the moment I saw them on the _Invisible Hand,_ I knew they were… up to something. Scheming."

Anakin glanced at him. There was a dull fear growing in the pit of his stomach; a rising panic that could leap out of control. He had always had suspicions about Jaina Solo and Kyp Durron, no matter what his dreams dictated. Who knew why Durron had been standing beside him when Padmé had been shot? The dream had not let him know, and Anakin was not going to start trusting him just for the sake of finding out where that planet was. His suspicions were shared with Palpatine. He wasn't the only one who could sense something very untrustworthy about them.

Perhaps they were scheming… But to do _what?_

"And how would you know that?" Anakin asked quietly.

"The way Jaina Solo looked at me that moment she and her companion nearly ran into the ray shields," Palpatine answered his voice low. "Shock filled with uttermost loathing. Needless to say, it confused me as to why this young woman would hate me so. I immediately felt that there was something odd, something dark hanging about her presence and I immediately felt… scared, frightened almost, by her. Later, I realized that her hatred for me ran deep. My suspicions about her were confirmed in the battle with General Grievous. She tried to kill me."

"What?!" Anakin exclaimed. Now that was inconceivable! He had been there! "But… _but…"_

"Oh, yes," Palpatine said. There was an odd expression on his face. "I do not deny it; Jaina Solo tried to murder me in that battle. But something stopped her – whether it was her conscious or something else that stopped her from doing so, the intent was still there."

"But… but…" Anakin was having difficulty forming words. His anger against the two stray Jedi was rising; how could Yoda trust them? How could _Obi-Wan_ be so quick to choose Jaina Solo to accompany him on that mission, even though he said it was to gather more information about her? She had tried to kill…

"But that's treason!" he finally managed to say.

"Yes," Palpatine said. "Yes, it is treason. But there is more. Being the curious person that I am, I wanted to discover the reasons behind her anger. I summoned her to my office to talk – and I could barely keep her from murdering me on the spot."

_What?!_

Anakin felt like his heart had stopped beating. His vocal chords were frozen – he wasn't able to say a word.

"She is spirited and filled with anger, Anakin," Palpatine said. "You _must_ be careful around her; she is intelligent and devious. I managed to calm her down; I offered her peace and prosperity. But she would not listen. She said that she will not rest until her partner kills me or until she does the deed herself."

"How… but…" Anakin was having difficulty forming words.

Palpatine looked at him solemnly. "But it is not only Jaina Solo that I am concerned about; the Jedi Council has shaken my trust, as I have said before. I believe that they, too, are planning treason. They have been after independence from the Senate for years and now I believe they are trying to overthrow my government."

"How…" Anakin's voice trailed off. He wasn't sure what to say. "I admit," he finally said, "that my faith in them has been shaken as well, but surely they–"

"Have they approached you already?" Palpatine interrupted abruptly. There was a frown on his face that more resembled a deep scowl. "Have they asked you to do something dishonest?

"Well –"

"They want you to spy on me, don't they," Palpatine said.

Anakin swallowed hard. "I –"

"It's all right, Anakin," Palpatine said. "I do not blame you. But know you see what the Jedi truly want. Remember what I told you, many years ago, when you first came to this planet? _All those who gain power are afraid to lose it._ This applies very much to the Jedi, just as it does to the politicians of the Senate."

"But the Jedi use their power for good," Anakin said. "That makes their power better, doesn't it?"

Palpatine smiled; he looked as though he was about to laugh. "Not necessarily, Anakin. After all, 'good' is a point of view. And what the Jedi view as 'good', others may not."

"What do you mean?"

"Take your Dark Lords of the Sith, for example," Palpatine answered. "From my readings, I have found that the Sith believed in justice and security every bit as much as the Jedi—"

"Jedi believe in justice and peace," Anakin interrupted.

"In these troubled times, is there a difference?" Palpatine asked. "After all, we have proof that not all Jedi are good – I have told you what Jaina Solo attempted. And the Jedi Council, too – planning to overthrow my government. The Jedi have not done a wonderful job of keeping the Galaxy safe in this war."

"But the war's _ending,"_ Anakin said firmly.

"That's not the point, Anakin," Palpatine replied. "Think of all the losses the Galaxy suffered; who's to say that the Sith would not have done a better job of keeping the people safe?"

"I wouldn't say that in front of the Council," Anakin commented.

Palpatine smiled. "Yes… because the Sith would be a threat to the Jedi Order's power. Do you know see what I mean?"

"No," Anakin replied, shaking his head. "The Sith are a threat because they are evil."

"From a Jedi's point of view," Palpatine answered. "The universe isn't divided into _good_ and _evil,_ Anakin. _Evil_ is, after all, a label that everyone in the Galaxy put on those who threaten us. Think of the Geonosians at the beginning of the Clone Wars – would they not think the Jedi were evil after you slaughtered so many of them?"

"In self-defense." Anakin could not see what Palpatine was getting at.

"I hardly think that that is what the Geonosians would think," Palpatine commented, smiling slightly.

"They were trying to kill us!" Anakin exclaimed.

"And what about you trying to kill them?" Palpatine replied. "Do you see what I am trying to say, Anakin? _Good_ and _evil_ are only points of view."

"Yes," Anakin said slowly, "I can see how you can believe that. But it doesn't change the fact that the Sith are…well…"

"The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, Anakin," Palpatine interrupted. "They are both on a quest for greater power."

"Greater power?" Anakin asked. "A Jedi's quest is for greater understanding, greater knowledge of the Force—"

"Which brings with it greater power, does it not? Do you not pride yourself on your talents and your power which you obtained only through 'greater understanding', as you so lightly put it?"

Anakin paused. "Well… yes…"

Palpatine folded his hands lightly and continued speaking. "The only real difference between the Jedi and the Sith is their orientation. A Jedi gains power through understanding, a Sith gains understanding through power. Which brings us to an interesting point. The Jedi have never been stronger than the Sith. I believe this is because they cut themselves off from a most valuable point – love."

"Love?" Anakin inquired, bemused. _Since when did the Sith know how to love?_ he wondered.

"Yes, love," Palpatine continued. "Or passion, if you prefer. The Jedi cut themselves off from the most important aspect of life. They do not make attachments because they fear the power of the Dark side. They feel that through their passion, they will have access to what they fear above all else."

"Well, I –" Anakin stopped himself before he blundered on and revealed something he shouldn't. Palpatine raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"I…nothing."

Palpatine smiled softly. "The Sith have no fear of the Dark side," he continued. "They embrace all emotions, which completes their experience – and their knowledge. They are not afraid to _feel._ That is what makes them more powerful."

"The Sith rely on passion for strength," Anakin said quickly. "They only think inwards, about themselves –"

"And the Jedi don't?" Palpatine questioned.

"The Jedi are selfless," Anakin countered. "We _erase_ the self, to join with the flow of the Force. We care about others; the Sith only care about themselves."

"Or so you've been trained to believe," Palpatine said, smiling again. "All I hear from your arguments is the same argument that any Jedi would say. What are your real thoughts, Anakin? What do you believe?"

Anakin glanced towards the opera once more, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. What did he believe? He wasn't so certain anymore. Palpatine had a valid argument. But the Sith were _evil_ – every Jedi knew that. They caused pain and chaos wherever they went, leaving a trail of death behind in their wake. But then, in this war, was that not what the Jedi did? Did _they_ not leave a trail of dead enemies behind them?

He did not know how to answer Palpatine's question. Anakin turned back to the opera, listening to the music, which was ominously sinister and dark. He felt a shiver go down his spine.

In this long-standing battle of opposing views, between Jedi Knight and Sith Lord, where did he stand?

* * *

Anakin Skywalker had disappeared and Kyp Durron was becoming aggravated. He knew there were only two places where the Chosen One could have gone: to Padmé Amidala, which was perfectly fine, or to Palpatine, which was the exact opposite.

Jungle planets, accusations and inquisitions, Kyp was beginning to wonder whether Anakin was starting to lose it or not. There didn't seem to be any changes in his behaviour, which Kyp decided was a good sign, but the point still remained that he did not know how to deal with Jaina's hot-tempered, arrogant grandfather. It required a Skywalker to deal with a Skywalker.

And the only Skywalker around besides Anakin himself was currently millions of light-years away on the Outer-Rim. Perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to have let Jaina go—

_Blast it, Durron, stop coming back to that! It's your fault, now deal with it!_

And so, he had moved to the next-best option. When there wasn't a Skywalker to be found, find the person who was most capable of understanding them.

That was the reason why Kyp was currently in an elevator, on his way up to Padmé Amidala's suite in 500 Republica. If Anakin was there, then he would deal with it. If he wasn't, then that meant that he was with Palpatine, which meant that Kyp needed to talk to Padmé immediately, to warn her. Perhaps _she_ could help steer Anakin away from his current path.

The welcome at the Senator's door was less cheerful than Kyp could have hoped.

A woman with dark brown hair and dressed in a rich, dark robe answered his call. She looked at him coolly for a moment and then asked, "And you are?"

"Kyp Durron," he replied. "I'm looking for Anakin Skywalker."

The woman made a visible jump and her brown eyes widened – but only for such brief moment that he could have very well missed it. She quickly reclaimed her composure and adopted an icy look. "This is the home of Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo," she said. "Why would you be looking for Jedi Skywalker here?"

"I heard they were friends," Kyp said smoothly.

"Jedi Skywalker is not here," the woman said firmly, "as you should know – are you not a Jedi yourself?" She glanced pointedly at his robes and the lightsaber attached to his belt.

"I—"

"Since you have not come to speak to the Senator and are not her personal friend, neither do you have an appointment and it is an unseemly hour late in the evening," the woman continued, "I would suggest that you leave." She looked pointedly at him, her expression without even a trace of a smile.

_Great,_ Kyp thought. _Stupid housekeepers._

"Listen," he said, "could I at least _talk_ to the Senator, I—"

"Do you have an appointment?" the woman interrupted. "No, you do not. I know because I checked the Senator's schedule this morning. Good evening, Knight Durron."

"Wait—!"

"Ellé, what is going on?"

Kyp froze. The tone of voice was familiar – he could have sworn that it was Leia Organa Solo speaking from inside the suite. Looking past the woman by the door, Kyp saw, for the first time in his life, Jaina's grandmother. He almost did a double take.

The similarities between Jaina and Padmé Amidala were shocking. They had exactly the same shade of hair, the same expressive brown eyes, the same shape of nose and curved lips. Even the structure of their faces were similar. Kyp could say that if there was ever a mirror-image of Jaina in this Galaxy, that mirror-image was Padmé. Kyp had always known that Jaina had inherited her looks from her mother, but he had never realized how far back those traits went. If Jaina were here right now, the two women could have passed for twins.

Padmé was dressed in a thick blue gown that was obviously designed to hide her pregnancy, but it was not succeeding very well at that. She stood in the centre of the hall, another woman, who was dressed identically to the one who had answered the door, standing a few feet behind her. The Senator caught sight of Kyp standing in the outer hallway, and her lips formed a small "oh" of understanding.

She walked slowly towards the door, her pace ungainly, no doubt an effect of her pregnancy.

"My lady," the first woman said rapidly, "this Jedi Knight is looking for Anakin Skywalker. I told him that he is not here and that you do not wish to be disturbed –"

"I'm sorry," Padmé said, interrupting the flow of her handmaiden's talk, "your name is?"

"Kyp Durron," Kyp replied.

"Ah," Padmé murmured. "You are a friend of Anakin's, are you not?"

"I suppose you could say so, yes," Kyp said, shrugging.

Padmé's eyes tightened. "Come in, Knight Durron," she said politely. She turned to her handmaidens, both of whom were looking at her incredulously. "Ellé, Moteé – please go ask Threepio to get something for our guest."

"Oh, no," Kyp protested, "you don't—"

The look Padmé gave him was so familiar that he immediately lost his train of thought and stopped speaking. He allowed himself to be led through the halls of her apartment – stylishly decorated in a tasteful, but understated, Nubian fashion – to a lounge right in front of an open veranda. It was dark out; night had fallen and traffic outside lit up the air as it would many years in the future.

Padmé gestured to the couches in the centre of the lounge, and they both sat down.

"Anakin has said a lot about you," Padmé said quietly, folding her hands in her lap. There was a sharp edge to her voice. Kyp had been expecting this – now that her handmaidens were out of the way, she was prepared for a serious conversation.

"I expect that he has," Kyp replied. "And none of it good, I imagine."

"And why do you say that?" Padmé inquired. "Or do you already know that Jedi Skywalker's opinion is not very high?"

Jedi Skywalker… Well, of course she would be hiding her marriage, despite how obviously pregnant she was. For a moment as he considered the thought, Kyp felt almost ill. Luke Skywalker, Grand Jedi Master of the New Jedi Order, had not yet been born, but soon would be. And here Kyp was, talking to Luke's mother.

It was a stranger feeling than when he had met Anakin.

_Stars, how must Jaina have felt?_ he wondered, and smiled briefly as he remembered how she had acted when she first recounted her story about meeting her grandmother. He had taken it so lightly then, even going so far as to tease her.

The truth of the matter was that it was beyond teasing. It was far stranger than anything else he had so far encountered.

"Are you amused by something?" Padmé asked shortly.

"No," Kyp said. "I was remembering something. That's all."

She didn't look pleased by this response. "Knight Durron," she said calmly, "I am only trying to understand _why_ Anakin… distrusts you so much. It is puzzling to me. I have met your companion—"

"Friend," Kyp corrected. He was starting to get irritated by everyone referring to Jaina as his "companion."

Padmé raised an eyebrow. "All right then," she said. "Your friend, Jaina Solo, and now I have met you. And I—"

"You're doing what you've always done," Kyp interrupted. "You're figuring things out on your own. You're a politician and a Senator. I suppose it's to be expected."

Padmé leaned back. "Oh? Is that your opinion of Senators?"

"I've known a lot of Senators."

"Hmm…" Padmé brushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "That's very strange for a man who supposedly spent most of his life in the Outer-Rim."

Kyp winced.

_Stang, she's perceptive,_ he thought. _What do you expect from the mother of Leia Organa Solo? Leia certainly didn't get her diplomatic traits from her father._

"Insightful, as always, Senator," Kyp said.

Padmé was about to respond when a clanking was heard. Padmé and Kyp simultaneously looked towards it and saw a golden protocol droid walking towards them, carrying a tray filled with various food and drink.

"Oh, Mistress Padmé," the droid said, "Mistresses Ellé and Moteé told me you have a guest, so I brought the appropriate food."

Kyp raised a hand to his forehead. It seemed that his past was following him wherever he went – even into the future. He supposed that it just made things complete that R2-D2 was Anakin Skywalker's astromech droid, and C-3PO was serving Padmé Amidala. Past acquaintances or not, Kyp was still not fond of the droid. 3PO might be shinier now than he ever would be in the future, but he still had the prissiest voice in the world and it grated on Kyp's nerves almost as much as it did – would – on Han Solo's.

"Thank you, Threepio," Padmé said. "Set it down, please."

"Yes, Mistress Padmé." 3PO obeyed and then turned to his owner. "Will you be requiring anything else?"

Padmé shook her head. "No, Threepio. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The protocol droid stumped off away from the lounge. Kyp refused to watch the droid's progress. Jaina should have told him that 3PO was in her grandmother's possession.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Padmé asked, gesturing at the tray 3PO had brought and placed on the table between them.

"No," Kyp said. He folded his arms. "Listen, Senator," he began, "I know Anakin doesn't trust me and I doubt that his mind-set will change any time soon. But you are not Anakin. You have your own mind. What would it take for you to trust me?"

"And what kind of question is that?" Padmé countered.

"If I was truly here to kill you, or to bring down the Senate, or whatever the hell it is Anakin believes," Kyp said, "I could have done it by now. But I haven't. Is that enough for you?"

"Not necessarily," Padmé answered. "Those with their eyes on power generally wait to spring the trap."

Kyp sighed and rubbed his forehead. He wasn't getting anywhere. He glanced at Padmé, noting her serene, but defensive, expression, her cool, calculating eyes. She was analyzing everything he said, every gesture he made. Kyp doubted that he would have much of a chance to convince Anakin to trust him if he continued along the same route that he was on. But if he could convince Padmé… that would add a completely new dynamic.

But convincing a _politician_, of all people, that he was trustworthy would be difficult, perhaps even more difficult than convincing a Jedi. However, he did have a few tricks that could be used: namely, his knowledge.

Kyp silently prayed that Jaina would not kill him for what he would say next.

"That may be true for politicians, Senator Amidala," he said slowly, "but I'm not a politician. I'm a Jedi. As is your husband."

* * *

It took Anakin a long moment to draw himself out of his whirling thoughts, draw himself away from the ominous music of the opera being performed down below.

_What do you believe?_ Palpatine had asked. Anakin had puzzled over this question. If it had been asked of anyone else, he was certain he or she would be able to answer immediately, but for Anakin, it was a completely different matter.

"I'm not sure," Anakin said finally. "The Jedi are good… we try –"

"You try," Palpatine said. "I know what you were going to say. The Jedi try to do what's right. But don't the Sith try as well? Right and wrong, just like good and evil, is also a point of view. Though the Sith look inwards towards themselves, their knowledge is the same as the Jedi who look outwards."

"I don't –"

"I think you do not understand what the Jedi really are," Palpatine said gently. "The Jedi are a select group of very powerful beings, just as the Sith are. You, however, consider the Jedi to be your comrades, your friends. But are your friends loyal to you?"

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked. Of course his friends were loyal to him! Obi-Wan and the others would never _abandon_ him, if that was what Palpatine was thinking…

"Would a true friend ask you to do something's that wrong?" Palpatine urged.

Anakin shook his head. "No, but I'm not sure it's wrong."

"Oh?" Palpatine raised an eyebrow. "Do explain."

Anakin swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "When Obi-Wan asked me on behalf of the Council to…to _spy_ on you, it was for a different reason." He paused and looked at Palpatine. The Chancellor had a soft smile on his face – a weird smile that seemed to be hiding something. Anakin shuddered and continued. "We think that… that Darth Sidious may have infiltrated the Senate somehow. You could be in danger, Chancellor. I am here more to guard you than to spy. I would never have taken the assignment if it had been for any other reason. I won't see you harmed."

Palpatine looked astonished for a moment; then he chuckled. His laughter was quiet, but it filled the box. Anakin shifted in his seat uncomfortably; perhaps he shouldn't have revealed his true purpose… perhaps the Sith Lord did have control of Palpatine and now he knew what the Jedi were planning…

"Well, Anakin," Palpatine said calmly, his laughter fading away, "thank you for telling me this. But have you considered that it might have been a lie, a ploy to convince you to spy, unwillingly, on me?"

Anakin shivered. "No, but…"

"The Jedi Council has asked you to violate the Constitution by spying on me," Palpatine continued. "They have asked you to betray a friendship and your own values and they are hiding it from you through the shield of a lie."

"Then… then…"

_"Think,_ Anakin!" Palpatine urged. "Think – use your mind. You could have figured this out by yourself. Consider the Jedi Council's motives. The fear of losing power is a weakness in both the Jedi and the Sith. The Council fears losing its power."

Anakin shuddered and shifted, once again, in his seat, slouching down. The world seemed to be crashing down around him. Everything that he had believed in seemed to make no sense.

"This reminds me of an old tale," Palpatine said, turning his gaze back to the opera. "Have you heard of _The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?"_

Anakin shook his head and took the opportunity to pull his mind away from the confusing jumble of his own thoughts. A Sith Lord legend?

"I thought you wouldn't have," Palpatine said softly. "It is, after all, a tale that the Jedi would not want to tell you. It is the story of a Dark Lord of the Sith who had turned his sight inward so deeply that he had come to comprehend, and master, life itself. And – because the two are one, when seen clearly enough – death itself."

Anakin sat up straight. _Master life and death_… Did that mean what he thought it did? His thoughts briefly flashed to his various dreams of Padmé lying, trapped, beneath the pile of heavy metal in the jungle.

Even if she died… was it possible for him to save her from death itself?

"He could stop someone from dying?" Anakin asked.

"According to the legend," Palpatine continued, "he could directly influence the midi-chlorians to create life. With such a knowledge, he could maintain life, even bring people back from death itself."

_Bring people back from death_… Anakin's thoughts were in a whirl. If _he_ had control of life and death, like Darth Plagueis, then he would no longer have to fear for Padmé's life. She would be safe – forever.

"But it is not a power the Jedi would find acceptable," Palpatine continued. "Only through intensive study that embraced all sides of the Force did Plagueis uncover this power – and many others. The dark side of the Force seems to be the pathway to many abilities that some would consider unnatural."

_I can save her. It's possible…_

"What happened to him?" Anakin wondered allowed. "If it's called a tragedy, then that must mean—"

"You are correct in saying that something terrible happened," Palpatine said. "Once he had gained this ultimate power, he might as well have been a god. He had nothing to fear save losing it." He paused and chuckled. "That is why the tale reminded me of the Jedi Council."

"But what _happened_ to him?" Anakin insisted. "If he could control life and death, then –"

"Darth Plagueis made one mistake," Palpatine said softly. There was a strange gleam in his eye. "To safeguard his power's existence, he taught the path toward it to his apprentice."

"And?"

"His apprentice killed him in his sleep," Palpatine murmured. "Plagueis never saw it coming. The irony… he could save anyone in the Galaxy from death – anyone except himself."

"What about his apprentice?" Anakin asked quickly.

"Oh…_him."_ Palpatine chuckled. "He went on to become the greatest Dark Lord of the Sith the Galaxy has ever known."

"So," Anakin said, trying to keep his voice calm, "the legend has a happy ending for the apprentice. Only Darth Plagueis had a tragic fate…"

"Oh, well, quite right," Palpatine said. "I never thought of it that way."

"What if," Anakin continued, "it's not a legend?"

Palpatine paused and looked curiously at Anakin. "I'm sorry?"

"What if it's not a legend?" Anakin repeated. "What if Darth Plagueis really _lived_ – what if someone really had the power to control life and death?"

"Oh, I am…" Palpatine hesitated for a moment. "I am rather certain that Plagueis did exist. And if someone actually had this power, you can imagine that he would be one of the most powerful and influential men in the Galaxy. Not to mention that he would also be… a god."

"How would I find him?" Anakin demanded.

"I'm sure I couldn't say. You could ask your friends on the Jedi Council," Palpatine chuckled, amused. "But of course, if they ever found him, they would kill him on the spot. Not as a punishment for any crime. Innocence is irrelevant to the Jedi. They would simply kill him out of their own interests, because he was a Sith. His knowledge would die with him. You see, the only thing in the entire Galaxy a Sith would have to fear is dying of the light – meaning the Jedi. The light side would destroy their knowledge." He paused. "Why do you ask?"

"I just… I have to…" Anakin found himself trembling. He forced himself to relax. "I… the things you could do for the better of the Galaxy with that power…"

Palpatine nodded. "Exactly, my boy."

"…the people I could save," he continued, murmuring the words to himself. His voice drifted off as his dream flitted in front of his eyes. Then he snapped out of his daydream. "You seem to know so much about this," he said to Palpatine. "I need you to tell me: would it be possible to learn this power?"

Palpatine shrugged. "Not from a Jedi."

* * *

Padmé sat frozen and staring at the strange Jedi sitting in her living room, her brown eyes wide, her expression paralyzed. Her heart was beating rapidly as his words resounded in her thoughts over and over again.

_I'm not a politician. I'm a Jedi. As is your husband._

_As is your_ husband.

How did he know? Kyp Durron was a complete stranger here. Padmé knew that it was impossible for him to know Anakin very well. But somehow, he knew the truth – which made no sense! Even Obi-Wan, who was closer to Anakin than any other Jedi, did not know about their marriage. So how had Durron found out?

"I…" She swallowed hard. "I don't know what you mean."

"I think you do," Durron said.

Padmé merely stared at him, feeling her heart thunder in her chest as her thoughts whirled. This meeting echoed the time she had met with Jaina Solo – Durron's partner, she reminded herself. The young woman had made a statement about the fact that she, Padmé, was carrying twins. And now Durron knew that she and Anakin were married – and from his expression, she knew that he wasn't bluffing.

There was something so strange about those two that Padmé knew something was very wrong. She sense it with every fibre of her being. Solo and Durron knew more about her and Anakin than any other Jedi could possibly have ever known, and they had only been on Coruscant for a short time.

She wanted to act outraged by Durron's statement, but somehow she couldn't let herself. She didn't want to. Horrified as she was by the revelation that someone knew her secret, Padmé was intrigued by how Durron knew. Somehow, she couldn't let herself deny the fact aloud, even though her mind screamed that it was the right thing to do.

Instead, she sat in silence, dumbstruck.

"Senator," Durron said quietly, "please listen. I am not going to reveal your secret to the Jedi. Anakin will not be expelled from the Jedi Order. How I came by this information is not important – I can guarantee that no one else knows –"

"How can I trust you?" Padmé interrupted.

Durron's expression was pleading. "You just have to," he said. "I'm sorry. That probably goes against your nature, but please, if you want to help Anakin, you have to trust me."

"Help Anakin?" Padmé exclaimed. "What do you mean?"

"Anakin is in serious danger," Durron told her.

"From what?" Padmé asked. She was watching him closely; he was speaking rapidly, but his eyes never lost contact with hers. Though some part of her wanted desperately to believe that he was lying, she knew that he was telling the truth.

Durron took a deep breath. "From Palpatine," he said grimly.

Padmé caught her breath as she felt a hard lump form in her throat. She pressed a hand against her lips – Anakin in danger from _Palpatine?_ Several months ago, she would not have believed it. But she had been watching the developments of the Senate for quite some time, and after today's act had been passed, she had no choice but to conclude that Palpatine was becoming a dictator. She had pledged to Bail that she would work to stop him from seizing more control, more power. She was working against him now. But how was that affecting _Anakin?_

Anakin did not understand the ways of politics. Palpatine was one of his closest friends, someone he trusted even more than he trusted himself. How easy would it be for Palpatine to convince Anakin to carry out one of his plans that would only serve to further the Chancellor's grip on power?

Padmé stared dumbly at her hands, which were folded amongst the thick material of her skirt, as she tried to control her thoughts. Dozens of questions, with dozens of possible answers to each one flitted through her mind chaotically.

Durron spoke after a pause. "If you can't believe this, then I understand –"

"No," Padmé said hoarsely. "No. I understand perfectly." She raised her head, her brown eyes meeting his green ones. She had never noticed until now how intense they were – a sign he truly believed in what he was saying. She pursed her lips. "I just… never thought that _Palpatine_ was – could – be a danger to Anakin. They are friends. Best friends."

"Which is part of the problem," Durron said. "Anakin is completely under his control. He trusts him entirely. Anakin would go along with any plan Palpatine ever suggests—"

"—to gain more power," Padmé murmured.

"What?" Durron asked.

Padmé looked at him. "There was an act passed in the Senate today," she said, her voice as cold as ice. "It gives the Chancellor even greater control over every planet in the Republic. We've made him a dictator."

"And Anakin is barely more than a slave to his will."

Padmé breathed in sharply. "How do you know Anakin so well?" she demanded. "You've barely spent any time on Coruscant. I doubt that even Obi-Wan would have come to that conclusion—"

"The Jedi are not fond of the Chancellor," Durron interrupted. "They do not trust him. What has occurred to me has most likely occurred to Obi-Wan at some point. Anakin is Palpatine's representative on the Jedi Council."

"Yes, I know—"

"Anakin needs to get out from under Palpatine's grip. If he doesn't, he'll fall."

"You haven't answered my question."

Durron stared back at her, his facial muscles tense. "It doesn't matter how," he said.

"It does to me."

"It _doesn't,"_ Durron said firmly. "It is the least of your worries, Senator. Please – you have to help—"

"Do not change the subject," Padmé interrupted. Her eyes were narrowed with suspicion. Durron was hiding something that he desperately didn't want her to know. _What_ was it?

Durron sighed. He started to speak for a moment, then stopped. Finally, he began again. "Senator, what I know and how I know it is beside the point. The more important matter is Anakin – and drawing him away from Palpatine's influence. Please, I'm asking for your help. You're the only one who knows him well enough to have any influence on him. I've done all that I can already."

"Anakin won't listen to you no matter what you say," Padmé said. "He doesn't trust you. What do you think I can do?"

"He'll listen to you."

"How are you certain?"

Durron smiled shortly. "All right, correction. I _hope_ he'll listen to you."

Padmé pursed her lips. "You are placing much trust on a chance."

"He loves you, doesn't he?"

Padmé's expression hardened. This was not something she wanted to discuss with a man she barely knew.

"I can't control what Anakin does and doesn't do," she said. "There are some things he refuses to share with me."

"Senator," Durron replied, "you are the only way that Anakin is going to be protected from Palpatine. You're right – he doesn't trust me, so no matter how many times I talk to him, he'll always suspect me of something. But you, on the other hand, you have a chance. Please."

Padmé bit her lower lip. It was strange to have this Jedi, this man, come to her to ask her to protect Anakin. But what he said was true – she could feel it. Palpatine, with his corruption and lust for power, could pull Anakin down that path and Padmé knew that he would not have the political training to deal with it. And with his strength and power, he could very well do something terrible without realizing it.

She could prevent that. If she went against what her mind had told her and made Anakin aware of what Palpatine was doing in the Senate, she could plant seeds of doubt in his mind. If he was made aware of the truth, he might not trust Palpatine as much as he did. Then he would be out from under the Chancellor's grip.

He would be safe.

"I'll help you," Padmé said quietly. She glanced at him. "I'll help you save Anakin, because I, too, am afraid of what the Chancellor could convince him to do. Anakin does not understand the political mind."

"Thank you, Senator." Durron looked relieved. He paused. "But you must not let Anakin know that we spoke about this."

Padmé raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"He doesn't trust me, remember?" Durron said. "Who knows what he'll think."

Padmé frowned. "I don't like deceiving him in this way—"

"I'm sorry."

"—but I see your point." Padmé sighed. "Anything connected with you or Jaina Solo is, in Anakin's mind, suspicious."

Durron nodded grimly, and then stood up. "Thank you, Senator Amidala."

Padmé lifted her chin. "If it means saving Anakin," she said, "I would do anything."

"Yes, of course." Durron paused. "I can see myself out." He turned to leave, but paused at the entrance to the hall. He cast a glance back at her. "Congratulations," he said, "by the way."

Padmé rested a hand on her distended belly. "Thank you."

And then he was gone.

Padmé leaned back against the cushions of her couch, her mind preoccupied by her confused thoughts. What was she doing? What had she agreed to? She would be lying to Anakin at the very same instance that she was telling him the truth.

But if the Jedi was right, then she _had_ to do it. She had to protect Anakin from the Chancellor. Otherwise, he would be pulled into a harsh world that he did not understand and he would never be able to deal with – and then what would be the outcome?

Padmé buried her face in her hands.

_Oh, Anakin,_ she thought. _What have I done? What have you done?_

_Will Palpatine continue to rule over us all – over you by way of friendship, and by me through way of politics?_

It was a question to which she feared the answer.


	24. Into the Woods

**CHAPTER XXIV**

**Into the Woods**

The forest was very still, and unnaturally so. Through the Force, Jaina could feel the woods around her teeming with life, from the very smallest life forms to the tall, ancient trees. It was slightly disconcerting that so much life could be frightened into remaining silent. There was no chattering of birds or squeaking of mammals as they hiked across the forest floor. The leaves of the trees barely moved in the soft breeze. The entire forest was simply radiating with fear.

This had an odd effect on Jaina; it made her very nervous, but at the same time she felt very determined. She would rid the forest of the person who was destroying the planet's way of life.

Jaina and Obi-Wan had left very early that morning. They had been traveling on foot through the forest for several hours now. They had a guide – a male Shanthra named Armik – who was content to quietly make his way through the forest. Though they had left before the sun had completely risen, the entire village had shown up to see them off. The Shanthrai had all been very quiet about it – hardly any of them had said a word and merely watched as the Jedi and their guide slipped off into the forest on a mission the Shanthrai considered, though necessary, suicidal.

Armik was just as silent as the other Shanthrai had been. He communicated with very abrupt gestures, hardly uttering a word. Whenever he did, his words resounded in Jaina's ears as Basic with overtones in the Shanthrai language; she then had to translate for Obi-Wan, who was still incapable of understanding the Shanthrai language.

They meandered along the forest path, twisting their way through the thick underbrush. Several times Jaina and Obi-Wan almost lost sight of their guide. Once the sun rose completely, they found it slightly easier to see where they were going; the sun's rays managed to penetrate the leafy canopy above to give them just enough light.

Though they walked in silence, Jaina soon began to enjoy the hike. She needed the exercise; she felt wonderfully free as they pushed their way past thick branches and vines, their feet crunching on twigs and fallen leaves. With the sound of life from the forest pulsing through the Force, she found it easy to slip into a rhythm that allowed her to hike with minimal energy.

As they walked, she wondered what Kyp was doing. Had he fended off any attacks that Palpatine might have sent? Had he reached out to Anakin yet? She bit her lip, the guilty feeling she had felt previously rushing back, this time accompanied by anger. If only she could have stayed behind on Coruscant where she was needed! She shouldn't have been forced to go on this ridiculous mission, even if it might prevent Palpatine from killing her.

Still, she couldn't call it ridiculous anymore. An image of Kanthrai's despaired expression came to mind, followed by the faces of every Shanthrai who had come to see them leave that morning. These people needed her. She had to help them, before their race was doomed to extermination by whatever lay in the mountains ahead.

"Jaina?" Obi-Wan's voice interrupted her train of thought.

She glanced to her left; Obi-Wan had come up behind her and now hiked beside her. Armik was several yards ahead of them, scouting the trail for enemies.

"Yes?"

"You look preoccupied," he said.

_Yeah, I suppose I am,_ Jaina answered silently. She looked at him and shrugged. "A little bit," she said. "Just… worried, I suppose."

"About this mission?" Obi-Wan inquired.

_He's fishing for information again,_ Jaina thought. "No, not really," she replied and walked on ahead. She wasn't sure yet how much information she should reveal about herself to Obi-Wan. Yes, she did trust him. She _had_ to trust him; he was Anakin's best friend and old mentor. If she and Kyp were ever going to turn Anakin against Palpatine, Obi-Wan would eventually have to know their reasons as well.

But there was so much at stake right now, even here on an Outer-Rim planet. What would Obi-Wan think if she told him she was a time traveler from the future? What would he _do?_

Putting these questions aside, Jaina hurried up the path, pushing through a curtain of rough branches that guarded the trail. On the other side, she found herself almost falling straight into the waters of a rapidly flowing river. One foot slipped as she reached out and grabbed the closest tree branch for balance; her boot plunged into the cold waters. She steadied herself and glanced around for Armik as Obi-Wan came through the curtain of leaves and branches. Their Shanthrai guide was no where to be seen.

Jaina glanced at Obi-Wan, exchanging a questioning glance. She looked out at the river; it was wide and swift, but deep. The opposite shore was rockier than their shore; steep rocky cliffs about six feet high plunged into the rushing waters there.

"Armik?" Jaina called. "Where are you?"

There was no answer. Jaina shrugged and decided to step into the water so she could have a closer look around. The trees were obscuring her view. However, as soon as she put both feet in the water on the slippery rocks, she yelped as she found herself sliding forwards on a smooth, downward slope. Unable to keep her balance, she tumbled into the water with a loud _splash._

Gasping from the cold and soaked from head to toe, Jaina found her feet a secure position amongst the underwater rocks and stood up, glad that the water only came up to her waist. Shivering slightly from the cold, she pushed her dripping hair out of her face and wiped a hand across her eyes so she could see better.

Glancing at the shore, she saw Obi-Wan trying his best to conceal his laughter.

"You know that's not very funny," Jaina said as she tried to make her way back to shore, feeling for a good foothold amongst the slippery rocks. She moved gingerly, making a yard back towards the shore before she lost her balance and fell back in the water. This time, it was only a few inches deep.

"AIE!" an angry voice yelled. "Shan-what are you doing-thrai? Shan-they will _hear_ you if you keep up such noise-thrai!"

Still sitting in the water, Jaina turned and saw a small, wooden boat floating down the river, steered by Armik. The Shanthra's face was curled in a look of disgust and anger.

"What did he say?" Obi-Wan asked as the boat came closer. "Here—" He held out at hand, which Jaina grasped and used to help steady herself once she was standing.

"He told me off for falling in the water," Jaina told him. "He thinks that 'they' will here us if I keep making a lot of noise."

The Shanthra expertly guided the narrow boat to the shore. He stopped paddling and quickly reached forwards for the strand of rope attached to the front of his boat. Armik rapidly threw the rope over the closest branch and tied a quick knot it in, securing the boat so it wouldn't float away.

"Shan-Jedi-thrai," he said, speaking directly to Jaina. The movements of his ears were sharp and acute, emphasizing his angry tone. "Shan-we have far to travel-thrai. Shan-if we take the river path, we will arrive at the falls-thrai. Shan-once there, we travel through the forest; then we must climb and follow the path of the river up into the mountains-thrai. Shan-from there you will be able to find the darkness that haunts our forests-thrai."

Jaina quickly translated for Obi-Wan as Armik moved backwards one place in his boat and waited impatiently. As soon as Jaina had stopped speaking, the Shanthra indicated two spots in the boat, both in front of him, and gestured for the Jedi to get in. Walking cautiously so she wouldn't slip and fall in the water again, Jaina reached the side of the boat. She quickly got in, yelping in surprise as the boat tilted to one side and then to the other. She quickly sat down, keeping her weight in the centre of the boat, hoping that it wouldn't tip. Behind her, she heard the unmistakable tones of Shanthrai laughter.

Obi-Wan followed her, clambering into the boat and taking the spot in front of her. He looked just as surprised as Jaina had felt when the boat tilted to one side as he got in. Now settled, both Jaina and Obi-Wan shrugged off their packs. Armik tapped Jaina on the shoulder. She glanced back and saw that he had produced two paddles from the side of the boat; he handed one to her and passed the other one up to Obi-Wan.

"Shan-we leave-thrai," Armik said, untying the rope and pushing off from shore.

Jaina's first reaction to the bumpy ride in the slender wooden boat was that they were going to tip. As the current took them and sent them off down river, reach little wave that hit the side of the boat made her feel like it was going to tip over and toss them into the water. For some reason she couldn't explain, Jaina really didn't want to tip. Sitting up straighter in hopes of keeping the weight evenly distributed throughout the boat, she gripped her paddle and plunged it into the river, occasionally glancing back at Armik to make sure she was paddling correctly. It was, after all, something she had never done before. She wished that they could have brought a proper boat with them, instead of this tippy thing that seemed barely able to carry three passengers, let alone three passengers with full gear.

The boat, however, made their traveling much faster. The river flowed quickly and carried them along much more rapidly than they could ever have hoped to on foot. Armik kept them on course as Jaina and Obi-Wan added more a little more speed to the boat with their inexperienced paddling.

They ate ration bars in their boat for lunch as Armik told them that they could not stop until he said so. The afternoon slowly ebbed away as they sailed along the river. Jaina's arms had long seized up by the time mid-afternoon came and her strokes had become slow and sloppy. Resting her paddle across her lap for a brief moment, she rubbed the back of her very sore neck and looked up at the soaring trees. When they had been beneath the eaves of the forest, the trees had seemed large then. Now they were on the river, they seemed even larger. They grew majestically upwards, their branches spread like fingers, intertwining together to form the green canopy that protected the forest below.

It was beautiful, Jaina decided. The planet of Shanthral was a wonder.

Armik finally steered the boat to a long, pebbly shore just as the sun began to set, streaking the sky with red and gold. He allowed the boat to run aground before jumping out into the shallow water and motioning for Obi-Wan and Jaina to do the same. Together, they quickly unloaded their gear and pulled the boat up on to land so it wouldn't float away. Tired from the day's activities, Jaina forced her arms to work as she gathered wood for a fire. She was too exhausted to listen to Armik, who was chattering nonsensically in his own language. The Shanthra took the collection of wood she and Obi-Wan had gathered and placed it together, somehow managing to light a fire. Jaina chewed enthusiastically on a ration bar as she sat by the fire, already curled up in her blankets. The warmth from the fire helped counteract the dampness that had settled on her ever since she had fallen in the water earlier that morning.

"We should keep a watch," Obi-Wan said from across the fire.

Jaina glanced up at him.

"Considering the danger," Obi-Wan added, "it would be a good idea."

Jaina nodded and shrugged. "It's up to you."

"Armik?" Obi-Wan turned to their guide.

Armik merely shrugged, his ears twitching in some kind of half-Shanthrai language.

"Very well, I'll take the first watch," Obi-Wan continued.

Jaina didn't comment as she had food in her mouth. She frowned, suddenly finding the taste of ration bars quite distasteful. Throwing the rest of the bar in the fire, she lay down and curled up in her blankets. Her eyelids drooped shut as she heard Obi-Wan's voice murmur something. She couldn't make out what it was – the gentle lapping of the water against the rocky shore was lulling her to sleep.

* * *

The problem with sleeping outdoors, Jaina quickly realized, was that one woke up very early and very sore. The ache in her wrists and arms from the day before had turned into a stiffness she couldn't quite get rid of. She had woken dreadfully early and was still quite tired; however, since Obi-Wan and Armik were also both awake, she couldn't very well go back to sleep.

They ate a quick breakfast as Armik destroyed the remains of their fire from last night, assuring them that it was a necessary precaution. Soon, their gear was packed and they were once again sailing down the river. As the day progressed, Jaina became more comfortable in the narrow boat. She was slowly becoming more accustomed to traveling on the water, though she knew that it would never be her preferred mode of transportation.

Around mid-day, Armik steered the boat to shore and told them that they would be carrying on by foot from here for the rest of the day. Jaina was about to ask why when she heard the unmistakable sound of a waterfall in the background. After a quick lunch by the river's shore, Jaina and Obi-Wan helped Armik hide the boat amongst the heavy vegetation and secure it so it wouldn't float away. Then they turned to the paths of the forest.

"You're much more comfortable hiking than you are traveling by boat," Obi-Wan commented as they pushed their way through heavy underbrush.

Jaina shrugged. "I've done a lot of hiking," she said. She shook back memories of hiking through the jungles of Myrkr – that mission was one that she did not need to be reminded of right now. "I've spent some time on Yavin IV. The jungles there are elaborate."

"Is that where you trained?" Obi-Wan asked offhandedly.

"Yes," Jaina replied without thinking. Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed, his expression turning slightly suspicious and Jaina winced. "I know what you're thinking," she said quickly. "The Sith Lords who lived on Yavin IV – the Massassi. The Dark side has left its marks on the planet. I haven't been influenced by them."

"Of course not," Obi-Wan said.

Jaina fixed him with a stare. She wondered what he was trying to learn from her now – and how much he had already learned. "It's good that you believe me," she said finally. "I have a feeling that not many Jedi would."

"And why would that be?" Obi-Wan asked. "The Masters believed your story on Coruscant."

_Yes, and I'm still surprised that they actually took it that easily,_ Jaina thought. She sighed and glanced at Obi-Wan. "I'm sure some of them didn't," she said. She paused and stopped walking, looking directly at him. "Do you?"

Obi-Wan's expression told her that he didn't quite know how to answer.

"I think you're hiding something," he said finally.

Jaina smiled shortly. "So you didn't believe me. If you don't believe me, then why ask _me_ to join you on this particular mission? There are so many Jedi you could have chosen. Jedi you know and trust. Jedi who don't have anything suspicious hanging over them. But you had to go and choose me."

They were walking again, following the trail that Armik was leading them on over rocky hills and through deep underbrush. From the slight changes in elevation, Jaina could tell that they were coming closer to the mountains.

"Jaina, that's the third time you've asked me that question," Obi-Wan said, following her. "I happen to trust you. I just don't –"

"You don't know much about me, so you're using this as an opportunity to get information out of me, right?" Jaina asked. She shook her head. "There are things about me that you wouldn't want to know, Obi-Wan. Stop fishing for information. If I have something to tell you, I will tell you. We have a mission to complete and I need to get back to Coruscant."

Jaina turned her back on her companion and strode off through the trees, not waiting for Obi-Wan to reply. Silently, she harangued herself for still being undecided about her situation. _Sithspit, just make up your mind, Jaina!_ she thought savagely. She couldn't go on like this. She had to tell someone about her past. For better or for worse, she should just _tell_ Obi-Wan what was really going on.

If anything, her little speech had just succeeded in making him even more suspicious of her than before.

That night, they camped in a glade. Armik offered to take the watch that night, leaving Obi-Wan and Jaina to get some rest. Jaina curled up on the ground uncomfortably, her thoughts a chaotic mess.

She desperately needed to get things sorted out.

* * *

Jaina stirred under the rough blanket, the wind whispering in her ears, calling her back from a deep sleep. She opened her eyes, staring up at the dark, leafy canopy above. The silver light of the moon spiraled down through the gaps between the leaves, softly illuminating the glade. Jaina glanced to her side – both Obi-Wan and Armik were fast asleep.

_Isn't Armik supposed to be keeping watch?_ Jaina wondered. Suddenly, she breathed in sharply and the thought quickly left her. She had heard it: a soft, _slithering_ motion. The sound of someone walking through the trees.

Rising cautiously so as not to wake her two companions, Jaina unclipped her lightsaber from her belt, gripping the cold handle tightly in her fist. She silently crossed the glade and slipped into the trees, heading in the direction of the sound.

The forest was motionless as she slipped through the heavy vegetation, her path illuminated by the silver glow of the moon. It was quiet – almost unearthly quiet. Images of strange, dark creatures hunting in the forest came to mind as she walked. Jaina shivered, her heart increasing its beat and her pace quickening.

The trees eventually thinned out and she stepped into a wide, grassy glade. In the moonlight, the glade appeared to be covered with a veil of mist. It was eerie. Jaina's eyes quickly scanning for signs of the person she hunted. Something told her that the person she was searching for was here and her hand gripped her lightsaber even tighter, turning her knuckles white.

She stood in silence for a long moment, watching the mist swirling over the knee-high grass, trying to peer through the gloom. She swallowed hard, forcing herself not to make a sound as her she saw the dark silhouette of a tall, dark person standing in the centre of the glade, facing her. His cloak billowed around him in the soft wind; she shivered as she felt his unseen eyes fall on her. She held her ground, staring determinedly back. Then, the dark figure turned and disappeared into the mist.

Jaina breathed in sharply and hurried off across the glade after the person. Whoever he was, she knew that she had to keep up with him. Somehow, she knew he had answers to her questions. She slipped through the grass almost noiselessly, but as she ran through the mist, she found that she could not see the dark figure.

The glade did not return to forested woods. Instead, it gently sloped downhill to where the tall grass met the shores of a river. Jaina came to a halt at the river's edge; she could not see the other side of the river – it was obscured by mist. Looking up, she saw the silhouette of someone standing out in the river, illuminated by a shaft of silver moonlight. She stared, slightly confused, at the dark figure for a moment and then stepped lightly into the water. It was cool, but not chilling.

She waded out into a little ways into the river, until she was knee-deep in the water. As soon as she was out in the river, she was baffled by the fact that the mist seemed to shift away from her, as if it was frightened by her presence. However, it gathered by the dark figure that stood before her, clouding her vision of him so she could barely see him.

"Who are you?" Jaina demanded, finally finding her voice.

"Jaina," the figured said softly.

Jaina froze. She knew that voice as well as she knew her own. She stared incredulously at the cloaked man, shock paralyzing her.

"No…" She swallowed. "How is this possible?" she asked quietly.

"The ways of the Force are very wondrous, indeed," Jacen replied.

Jaina lowered her head, barely aware of the fact that tears were forming thickly in her eyes. Images of her brother's final moments on Mustafar filled her mind's eye, finally breaking through the barriers she had erected against them.

Then, with awful brutality, she remembered the different scenarios Palpatine had forced her to relive of their mission on Myrkr – and the many ways both Jacen and Anakin had died without her able to do anything to prevent it.

"You _died,_ Jacen," she said finally, letting the tears go as she spoke. "Palpatine killed you on Mustafar."

"No, he didn't." Jacen's voice was firm. "At least, he won't. Things are changing, Jaina – because of you."

Jaina shook her head. "Jacen, stop trying to change the subject," she said as she wiped away tears with the back of her hand. "What are you? I _saw_ you die—"

"I'm not sure what I am," Jacen said softly. "I suppose you could call me a messenger from the future—"

A choking laugh escaped Jaina's lips at that.

"Or a messenger from the past," Jacen added. _"Your_ past, to be specific."

"It's best if you don't try to think about it too much," a new voice said.

Jaina gasped, her mouth opening in shock and astonishment. She blinked and then shook her head vehemently. Here was absolute proof that this wasn't real, that this had to be a dream of some kind.

His face was obscured by both his cloak and the mist that swirled around them, but she didn't need to see his face to recognize her little brother. Anakin stood beside Jacen, looking very much alive and well.

"Anakin…" Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Hi, Jaina."

She could almost see him grinning.

"What is going on?" she asked. "Why –"

Through the swirling mist, Jaina saw Anakin raise a hand. It glinted with a strange blue shade.

"Please, Jaina, Jacen and I don't have much time," Anakin said. "Things have changed."

"What do you mean?"

"Jaina, for once just listen and don't question," Jacen interrupted her, sighing. "The course of the future has been significantly altered, for better or for worse. But you _have_ to be careful. Everything you do could easily wipe out your own existence."

_What?_

She frowned at Jacen, unsure of what he meant.

"Jaina, please," Anakin said. "We don't have much time. We don't really exist anymore, after all."

"What?!" Jaina shouted, both outraged and completely baffled. "You're my _brothers,_ how –"

"Every little thing you do here changes the course of the future," Jacen said, interrupting her tirade. "If you're not careful, Mom won't ever meet Dad. You'll erase yourself out of time. Jaina, you _can't_ let that happen. You're already erasing _us_ – well… the dead us, anyways. Don't give me that look, Jaina, it doesn't matter. It's better this way anyways – now you know that Anakin's _not_ going to get killed by the Yuuzhan Vong and I'm not going to be impaled by Palpatine's lightsaber."

A hoarse, uncontrollable laugh escaped Jaina's lips.

"We're just warning you, Jaina," Anakin said softly. "You have something you need to do in the past, but you have to take the future into consideration. You don't want to accidentally make sure that you will never be born."

"You're complicating things, Anakin," Jaina growled through gritted teeth. "Stop it. What I'm trying to do is hard enough."

Jacen turned to Anakin and they both sighed in unison.

"We're just passing on something we think you should know," Jacen said. "Don't be stubborn, Jaina."

"There are other things out there than Palpatine," Anakin added. "There are more than just two forces of good and evil at work here. Time travel's a tricky thing. We just want you to be safe."

Jaina held a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. This was becoming too much for her to take.

"We have to go now, Jaina," Jacen said.

Her head shot up. "No!"

"Sorry, Jaya," Anakin told her. "We don't really have control over things like this."

"But –!"

"Good luck, Jaina," Jacen said softly. "We love you."

Suddenly, the cloaked figures of her dead brothers faded into the mist, leaving Jaina standing alone in the knee-deep water.

Slowly, she returned to shore, her thoughts whirling. _There's more than just two forces of good and evil at work here._ What had Anakin meant? What did they mean by her erasing her own existence?

Suddenly, she stumbled and fell face first into the grass. Darkness fell around her and she knew no more.

* * *

"Jaina?! _Jaina!"_

Someone was shaking her. A groan escaped her and she slowly opened her eyes, blinking as sunlight flooded them with painful golden rays. She blinked again and passed a hand over her face before she realized that Obi-Wan was kneeling beside her, staring her straight in the face, his expression anxious and worried.

She slowly sat up. "I'm all right," she murmured, "I'm fine." She barely understood what she was saying. Her mind was still filled with the images of the two cloaked figures standing in the mist…

"You're not fine." Trust Obi-Wan to keep pressing for information. "What's wrong?" On the other hand, he did look genuinely concerned.

"I saw my brothers." Her voice was hollow.

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows. "What?"

She turned to him. "I _saw_ my brothers."

"Jaina," he said, "I don't understand what you mean. What brothers?"

She raised a hand to her face and stared unblinkingly at him. _"My_ brothers. Jacen… Ana—" She broke off quickly. She couldn't say her brother's name; that would raise Obi-Wan's suspicions and then she wouldn't hear the end of it. She covered her mistake with a cough. "They died. A long time ago. And I saw them last night."

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? You didn't go wandering around last night."

_I didn't?_ Jaina was certain that she had gotten up at some point in the night. She remembered vividly the trek from this glade to the river's edge where she had seen Jacen and Anakin.

"Oh… I don't know!" Jaina cried. She rubbed her forehead. Maybe she had only imagined it. After all, Jacen and Anakin were dead. They couldn't visit her. "Never mind." She shook her head. "I don't know what's gotten into me. Forget what I said. It was only a dream. Nothing important." Jaina got to her feet, pulling together her blankets and repacking them in her gear.

Obi-Wan still regarded her with a mixed expressed, partially anxious, partially curious and wondering. Armik, meanwhile, tapped his fingers impatiently as he waited for them.

As they set off that day, Jaina's mind was flooded with the images from her vision. What had it meant? She shivered. Nothing good had come of her vision or dream or whatever it was. Nothing boded well for the future.


	25. Nightmare

**CHAPTER XXV**

**Nightmare**

"Padmé, what's wrong?"

Padmé looked up from her couch as Anakin strode into her living room, his expression anxious and worried. It was well past midnight now; Anakin was no doubt returning from the opera. She shuddered. What had Palpatine told Anakin? He had a strange expression on his face – relief mixed with some fanatic gleam in his eye. It unnerved her and reminded Padmé of the promise she had made to Kyp Durron.

She would protect Anakin from the Chancellor, no matter what it cost.

She had to start by telling the truth. She had to start by telling Anakin what Palpatine had done to the Republic.

Things were always easier said than done.

Padmé lowered her hands from her face and sighed as her husband sat down beside her.

"The Chancellor…" Her voice faded away. Palpatine was his friend, his mentor – would he be able to see past that and accept the truth of what the Chancellor had done to the Republic? How would she be able to convince him that Palpatine was corrupt?

"What about the Chancellor?" Anakin insisted.

"Oh, Ani." Padmé pressed her face into his chest and she forced herself to breathe slowly. "The Republic is… in danger."

"From the Separatists? Impossible. The war is ending!"

She shook her head firmly. "No – from its own leaders. It's crumbling from within."

Anakin fixed her with a perplexed look. "What do you mean?"

_Oh, Ani._ He was never able to understand politics very well. Perhaps that was one of the reasons she loved him so much. Anakin made everything simple – most of the time. This time, however, things were very complex and Anakin's ignorance was putting him in danger. Padmé bit her lip, uncertain of how to answer her husband's question. She was going to make a stand against Palpatine, Anakin's friend and mentor.

She had to reveal to him that she no longer trusted the Chancellor.

"What is it, love?"

Padmé suddenly realized that her hands had been covering her face. Anakin was now gently detaching them so he could see her properly.

"Anakin…" She hesitated. Why was she afraid to tell him? She trusted Anakin – she trusted him with her life. She needed to be honest with him, if she was going to save him. If he was angry with her decision… she would deal with his reaction. "Anakin," she began again, looking him straight in the eye, "my faith in the Senate has been… shaken. I don't think we can trust the Chancellor any more. He's leading the Republic down a path that we cannot afford to take – a path that could very well end in ruin."

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Padmé swallowed hard. "The Sector Governance Decree. It was passed yesterday under the pretense that it will help keep the Republic safe from another war. But it's more of a blind attempt to try to destroy all that the Republic stands for. It serves only one purpose – to give the Chancellor more power. He has been passing laws that only make him stronger. And now he has control over all of our _own_ planets. Ani, we've made a dictator out of him." Her fingers twisted together again. Padmé glanced down at them, but instead her eyes fell on the japor snippet that she still wore around her neck – the japor snippet that Anakin had given her, so long ago.

"You don't trust Palpatine anymore," Anakin said. His voice was emotionless.

Padmé glanced up at him. "No," she whispered. "I can't. Not anymore. He was once a mentor and friend to me, like he is now to you. I'm sorry, Ani… I know he's a friend, but –"

"Shh…" Anakin's voice was surprisingly soft as he held up a hand, silencing her. He didn't look angry. Instead, he pulled reached out and pulled her closer, embracing her tightly. "It's all right," he said.

"I'm sorry," Padmé murmured again. "But I have to be honest with you."

"That's all right," Anakin replied quietly, stroking her hair. "I believe you, Padmé. It's your judgment."

Padmé drew away slowly and glanced up at Anakin again. "You're still his friend," she said. "Anakin, you have to realize what he's doing. He's becoming a dictator! And because of your friendship, he could pull you along without you ever thinking about the damaging effects it could have on the Republic—"

"What do you mean?" Anakin interrupted sharply.

Padmé caught her breath. "Anakin… please. You have to realize what he's doing is wrong, that it's destroying the Republic."

"You want me to turn my back on his friendship?!"

"No!" Padmé cried. "No! It's just you're ignorant to politics, Ani. Please, for my sake, at least talk to the Chancellor and make him stop what he is doing! And be careful. I'm worried about you."

Anakin's expression softened. "You don't need to worry about me, Padmé," he said. "I'm fine."

"Please," Padmé murmured. "Please, be careful. Don't trust him blindly."

They were silent for a long moment.

"Anakin?"

He blinked. "Of course I will," he murmured. "For you, I would do anything."

Padmé smiled slightly. She reached out and grasped his hand, squeezing it gently. "Thank you."

"Just don't worry," Anakin told her firmly. "I don't want to see you worry. This is supposed to be a happy time, right? You'll be a mother soon, after all."

Padmé's hand drifted to her swelling abdomen. "Yes."

"Everything's going to be all right," Anakin continued. "I promise."

Padmé's smile faded. "I hope so."

* * *

When Kyp Durron returned to the Jedi Temple, he was hoping desperately that he hadn't made his situation worse. Though Padmé Amidala had not acted as though she trusted him, the look in her eyes when he had given her his warning had told him that she believed him, for good or ill.

What was absolutely clear was that the situation was out of his hands. Kyp knew that his chances of convincing Anakin that he was trustworthy were very slim. If any doubt was to be placed in the Chosen One's mind about his alliance with Palpatine, Kyp would not – could not – be the one to do it. Anakin's suspicious mind would not believe anything Kyp said – not unless something happened to convince him otherwise.

Padmé, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter. If she managed to convince Anakin that Palpatine was not to be trusted blindly, then perhaps they would have a chance. A very slim chance.

It was past midnight when he walked down the corridor towards his own quarters; the Temple halls were mostly deserted. Vaguely, he wondered whether things would have gone more smoothly if Jaina had been here, then decided that it was impossible to know since Jaina herself was normally impossible to predict.

Kyp had just entered his quarters when he felt the disturbance – a shocking tremor in the Force that shook his very being to the core, but at the same time felt oddly _different,_ as if it was working on some higher plain. The hairs on the back of his neck seemed to stand up on end as the temperature of the room plummeted.

Acting swiftly, Kyp drew out and ignited his lightsaber. The crimson blade cast a somewhat eerie red glow across the room.

"Who's there?" he called, though his sense of foreboding was telling him that it could only be one person.

Suddenly, he felt a familiar tug through the Force and everything dissolved into darkness.

* * *

_Shadows and mist swirl in the dark jungle._

_"PADMÉ!"_

_A name, just a name._

_"PADMÉ!"_

_Whose voice is that? One so panicked, so frightened?_

_It takes him a moment to realize that the voice belongs to him._

_"PADMÉ!"_

_His shout echoes around him, yet all he can see is mist. He runs, his feet sticking in the mud, water dripping down his face as rain pours on the jungle. Suddenly, the cloud of mist opens and he's standing there, in the clearing. His eyes immediately connect with the broken, limp form lying, bloodied and bruised, on the ground, wet with rain and blood—_

_"NO!"_

_He turns around wildly, looking for someone, anyone –_

_"Anakin!" a voice shouts._

_He stops. He turns and sees Obi-Wan, standing in the rain, his expression anguished. Beside him, battered and bruised, is Kyp Durron. Both Jedi have their lightsabers ignited – one casting a bluish glow, the other a crimson haze._

_"Anakin, hurry!" Obi-Wan yells._

_"I can't!" he hears his voice call back. He has no control over it – it seems distant, detached. His mind is still with the woman lying on the ground, dead._

_Dead._

_No. It can't be._

_"PADMÉ!"_

_He steps forwards, and suddenly the ground rushes up to meet him and all goes white._

_White – white mist. Then – a confusing tangle of images. Voices._

_"Your Highness…?"_

_Voices that are detached and distant._

_"What shall we do with her?"_

_Who, who? he asks. Who are they talking about?_

_"Bring her…. Places for traitors to the Empire…"_

_One voice. A man's voice. It is familiar, but he can't remember where he's heard it before._

_"…dangerous, but valuable enemy." The voice is slipping in and out, distant, echoing. "…if she does not co-operate… have her killed."_

_Have who killed? Who?!_

_"Sir…!"_

_"…Highness…"_

_He struggles with the white blanket of mist descending on him, but the voices are fading away before he can clarify who the speakers. Finally unable to fight any longer, he surrenders to the whiteness._

Anakin woke in a cold sweat, panting. He was shivering uncontrollably, almost as if he was sick with a fever. It took him a moment to realize that he was no longer drowning in the white mist and that he was, in fact, sitting upright in bed in Padmé's room. It was comfortably dark.

The dream had changed again, and with that change brought an increasing sense of fear and foreboding. The jungle had remained the same – until it was lost in the mist – and Obi-Wan and Durron had still been there. But most clearly, he remembered the strange, distant voices. Empire. Why did that word sent a shiver down his spine?

_Empire…_ A kingdom. A Galactic kingdom – powerful, no doubt, and controlling. That was what he thought of when he thought of the word "empire."

Powerful and controlling.

Anakin had a sudden flash of memory of Padmé, quietly whispering her fears about Palpatine.

_He's becoming a dictator,_ she had said.

Anakin shivered. He had told Padmé not to worry just to calm her down, but he had never examined the full meaning of her frightened words. She truly believed what Palpatine was doing was wrong.

But Palpatine knew about Darth Plagueis… and once _he,_ Anakin, learned the knowledge that Sith Lord had acquired, then he would be able to save Padmé from anything…

Anakin rubbed his forehead and lay back against the pillows. It was late in the night – or very early in the morning. It was difficult to tell as it was still very dark outside. He was tired and he clearly wasn't thinking coherently. All he wanted to do was sleep…

Anakin drifted off once more, but his dreams remained troubled by swirling mist and voices whispering words about an _Empire…_

* * *

Kyp knew exactly what had happened, and he cursed himself for not being on his guard, for not being able to protect himself. The Jedi Temple was gone; he was in some other place, surrounded by darkness and without an escape. He was trapped, caught by Palpatine – the Sith Lord had finally followed through with a plan, just as Jaina had predicted.

_You could be his next target._

Target he was, and now he was caught. Whether or not it was the same trick Palpatine had used to trap Jaina, Kyp did not know – what he did know was that the entire ploy echoed with the power of time.

At least he was not trapped in his memories, as Jaina had been – yet. He still had a grip on reality, or at least what passed as reality here.

And he wasn't alone.

"I know you're there, Sidious," he called. "Why don't you speak to me face to face, instead of hiding in the dark? Cowardly, wouldn't you say?"

"It is generally considered unwise to insult the one who has the upper hand," a voice hissed from somewhere out in the darkness. Kyp immediately recognized it has Palpatine's. He felt himself tense.

"I was never good at following advice," Kyp countered.

"Quite."

Kyp looked around, trying to peer through the gloom to find the Sith Lord, but to no avail.

"What is it that you want with me?" Kyp asked. He heard his voice echo. "Why go to all this trouble?"

There was an ominous laugh. "If you are to play with time," Sidious replied, "then you must use all your resources. Why go to mundane lengths to trick you into coming to my office when I could easily entrap you here by using a time portal? The Jedi will not assume anything – they cannot feel what has happened as they are not in tune with the powers of time. You have much to learn about the Force, Jedi."

"It's not going to work," Kyp said. "I'll find a way out. You've already used this on Jaina, and I drew her back then—"

"Solo?" He sounded perplexed. There was a pause. "Oh, yes. Of course." The voice was pensive, but ended with a sneering tone. "You would have been an interesting opponent, Master Durron," Sidious continued, speaking louder this time. "Perhaps even moreso than the Chosen One's granddaughter. I am sorry that I must dispose of you so soon."

"You won't get rid of me so easily," Kyp interrupted coldly. "Just as you didn't get rid of Jaina so easily."

"Did I not?" There was an icy pause. "Solo has gone, and on Shanthral she may discover something that is far beyond her powers to defeat. She is out from underfoot; she can no longer destroy my plans. Even if she does return, she will be too late. My only obstacle left is you."

"This isn't over yet, Sidious," Kyp growled.

The Sith Lord laughed coldly at that, and the sound sent a shiver down Kyp's spine.

"Tell me, Master Durron," he said, "just how far would you go to save her?"

Kyp froze. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play the part of the fool," Sidious' voice hissed. "You know exactly what I mean. Your journey through time was never about preventing Anakin Skywalker's destiny, as Jaina Solo may believe. It runs deeper than that, for you."

Kyp could barely breathe. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the Sith Lord's words. His enemy was trying to goad him into doing something rash. He wouldn't let Sidious get to him.

"I know your purpose here, Master Durron," the dark, cold voice continued. "You came with her to guard her, to protect her. How charming. Your fears were never about Anakin, were they? Even now, you are having difficulty reaching out to him. Your deepest thoughts are not focused on 'saving' him from the Dark side – they are focused on Jaina Solo. Am I not correct?"

Kyp forced himself to breathe deeply, forced himself to ignore the words. Slowly, he sent out his thought, searching for a way out of his prison. There had to be some form of escape…

"Love, you will find, is the downfall of all," the Sith Lord's voice said. He chuckled – a mad, inhuman sound. "It is a connection between souls that brings about ultimate destruction. People are too consumed by thoughts and fears for their loved ones to understand what is happening right in front of their eyes. You have such a connection, do you not? How else would have rescued Solo from her prison? No Jedi has ever achieved that before. You are the first. You have something that the rest of the Jedi lack."

Try though he might, Kyp found that he could not ignore Sidious' words any longer. They tore sharply at his being and he forced himself not to react, not to respond. Sidious was striking close to home – too close to truth for his comfort.

"Are you in love with her, Durron?" the Sith Lord's voice murmured.

Something inside him snapped.

"You stay away from her!" Kyp shouted.

"Ah…" There was a mocking tone in the Sith Lord's voice. "Have I struck a nerve?"

"Do what you want with me," Kyp growled, "just stay away from Jaina. Leave her alone, or I swear I will cut you down myself."

Silence. Then –

"Arrogant as always, Master Durron," Sidious said icily. "What makes you think that you can escape? What danger are you to me when you are trapped within time itself?"

"I'll find a way out!" Kyp hissed. "And when I do, you better be on your guard, because one day, I'll be there."

"You presume too much," the Sith Lord's voice said coolly. "I think this concludes our conversation."

Kyp felt the Force's flow bend, obstructed by some great power. There was a small surge, and then nothing. Darth Sidious was gone. There was nothing left but silence and oppressive darkness bearing down on him.

Kyp clenched his hands into fists.

_This isn't the end, Sidious. I will find a way out, if it's the last thing I do!_


	26. The Lord of Time

**CHAPTER XXVI**

**The Lord of Time**

As they drew closer to the Great Falls of Shanthral – or, the _Denlu'anthrai_, as Jaina later found out –Armik grew increasingly more nervous. The falls were the boundary between the lowlands and the highlands; once they passed the falls, they would be in the mountains. The presence of the Dark side grew stronger with every step they took.

It had been at least three days since Jaina had seen her brothers – or what she thought had been her brothers. She remembered, with vivid clarity, their faces, the sound of their voices, the gestures they used while the talked. It had seemed extraordinarily real, yet Obi-Wan assured her that she had not left the boundaries of their camp that night.

Jaina had very little to say while her mind was preoccupied with images of Jacen and Anakin. Obi-Wan did not attempt to engage her in conversation; he seemed to realize that she needed to be alone with her thoughts.

And so, they travelled on in silence.

On the afternoon of their eighth day (by Shanthral time) of travel, Armik lead them out of a dense patch of forest and into an open glade. The glade, its lush green grass almost knee-high, rolled down towards the wide river at the base of a valley. Feeding the river was the _Denlu'anthrai._

They were at least a half-an-hour's hike away from the falls, but already Jaina could hear the sound of thousands of gallons of water falling over the rocky mountain ledge, plunging hundreds of meters towards the ground. Now that they were out in the open, she could see, quite clearly, the route they were headed along. The mountains of Shanthral stretched high above them, their white-capped peaks reaching for the sky. Guarding the mountains were the falls; a long, wide rocky cliff over which the water tumbled. They were breathtakingly beautiful and Jaina thought she could have stayed there forever, if it hadn't been for the unfathomable presence of the Dark side that resided somewhere in those mountains.

Obi-Wan was scanning the area with his eyes. "Is that the only way up?" he asked Armik, nodding in the direction of the falls.

"Shan-yes-thrai."

"He said yes," Jaina translated before Obi-Wan could ask. She swallowed hard and turned to their guide. "Wait – do you mean to say that we're actually going to have to _climb_ that thing?"

Armik's eyes looked back at her unblinkingly. "Shan-yes-thrai," he said. "Shan-the mountains are guarded by cliffs on all sides; the _Denlu'anthrai_ is the only way up or down-thrai."

Jaina looked hesitantly at the falls. For all their beauty, this was going to be a formidable climb.

"Well," she said, "we better get started."

Armik guided them along the river's edge; as they approached the falls, the sound of the falling water soon began to drain everything else out. The mist surrounding the falls sprayed Jaina's face as they walked closer and closer; it felt like rain. Soon, they were at the base of the falls. The vegetation around the _Denlu'anthrai _was thick and green. Moss clung to the rocks that jutted out from the rock face that the water flowed over. Jaina wondered how they were supposed to climb this. She couldn't see a way up or down.

Armik whistled, catching her attention. She turned to him and saw that he was standing beside what looked like a ladder carved into rock – or a very steep staircase. Jaina and Obi-Wan walked over and looked up. The crooked staircase was wet and slippery, covered with moss.

"Oh, well, I suppose nothing is ever easy," Obi-Wan sighed.

"I suppose so," Jaina murmured. She was distracted; the presence of the Dark side was growing in her mind. It was somewhere very close to here – very close. It was making her skin tingle.

Something wasn't right.

"Shan-climb-thrai," Armik instructed.

Jaina glanced at Obi-Wan.

"Ladies first?" he said.

Jaina rolled her eyes and walked to the vertical staircase carved into the rock face. Gripping the slippery ledge as tight as she could, she began to climb. Once she was several feet up the side of the cliff, Obi-Wan followed. Armik brought up the rear, continually glancing over his shoulder as if he was expecting something to creep up on them.

It took all of Jaina's strength to pull herself up the rock-face. Water tumbled around her on all sides; more than once, her grip slipped and she almost lost her balance. Mist from the falls settled in her hair, on her face, on her body, mixing with the accumulation of sweat. About a quarter of the way up, her breathing was already ragged and there was a sharp pain in her chest. The sound of falling water thundered in her ears.

Obi-Wan wasn't doing much better than her; she could hear him gasping for breath. Though he must have been as exhausted as she was, he didn't say a word. Below Obi-Wan, Armik was talking rapidly in his native tongue, muttering to himself and continually pushing the pace. Jaina wished she could turn around and ask him what the matter was, but she didn't have the energy. Besides, she would probably lose her grip and fall.

The higher they climbed, the more the mist swirled around them. Soon, Jaina was having difficulty seeing. They were half-way up the falls when Armik shouted something incomprehensible. Jaina looked over her shoulder and glanced down. The mist from the falls was obscuring her view; all she could see was the top of Obi-Wan's head.

"Armik?" she called, projecting her voice so that the Shanthra would hear it over the sound of the falls.

There wasn't an answer.

"Armik, what's wrong?" she shouted.

The silence was disturbing.

"Obi-Wan," Jaina said after a moment, "can you see anything?"

"No," he replied. "Nothing but mist."

"What's going on?"

"I don't know."

"ARMIK!" Jaina yelled. "Can you hear me?"

No answer.

"Wait a minute," Obi-Wan said. "Can you see that?"

"See what?" Jaina strained her neck, trying to see further down the cliff.

"Down there, there's something moving –" Obi-Wan suddenly stopped talking.

The air, the water, everything around them was suddenly alive with the presence of the Dark side. Jaina thought she could feel the rock-face of the cliff moving. She tightened her grip on the rocks and tried to peer through the mist.

Then she saw it. Dark, formless – and climbing upwards.

"MOVE!" Obi-Wan shouted. _"MOVE!"_

Jaina didn't need the warning. She began clambering up the rock-face as quick as she could. She ignored the pain in her hands, the soreness in her chest. Every time she slipped, she clung on to the moss-covered rocks, her legs kicking frantically in order to find a new foothold. Behind her, Obi-Wan was frantically scrambling up the cliff.

The mist began to converge on them; it was more like fog than mist now. Jaina could barely see her own hands. When she glanced behind her, the only sign of Obi-Wan was his ragged breathing.

When she looked down, she could see the formless black thing, rushing up towards them like a monster out of a child's nightmare.

Her heart jumped into her throat.

Calling on the Force to ease her panic, Jaina made one final push to the top of the cliff. Exhausted, she hoisted herself up on the hard, wet rocks and rolled out of the way so Obi-Wan could pull himself up. She rose to her feet as he came over the edge and looked around; they were standing on a small rock peninsula that jutted out into the fast-flowing water of the wide river or lake that flowed over the falls. It connected to the tree-lined shore.

Jaina and Obi-Wan ran towards the shore, slipping on the wet rocks. Once they were in among the trees, they stopped to catch their breath.

The land beyond the edge of the waterfall was covered by a thick, white mist – a mist that was quickly being sucked away by the dark thing that slowly came up over the edge of the falls.

"What _is_ that thing?" Jaina breathed.

"I don't know," Obi-Wan answered.

"It's coming after us," Jaina said.

There was a pause of silence as they stared at each other for a long moment. It was Obi-Wan who finally managed to speak.

"Jaina, we need to find the Shanthrai's 'dark person.' Do you know where to start looking?"

Jaina looked at him incredulously. "Why do you think _I_ know? Why are you asking at a time like this?"

"You understand the Shanthrai much better than I do," Obi-Wan said quickly. "You learned their language. Surely Armik gave you some hint –"

"No. He didn't. Ask him where to start looking when he comes over that ledge."

The darkness had come up over the side of the falls and was quickly spreading now.

"Armik is dead, Jaina."

Jaina bit her lip. She _knew_ that, but she didn't want to admit it. If that _thing _caught up with them… She looked at Obi-Wan. "I – _Hutt breath!"_

Without even waiting for him to say something, she grabbed Obi-Wan's wrist and began running through the forest, following the water's edge. The thing that was chasing them had found them.

The Jedi ran, unsure of where to go, not knowing what they would do if their assailant caught them. There was no clear path through the forest as there had been in the lowlands; no animals walked here. Jaina leapt over fallen logs and darted through the trees, her eyes searching for some way to escape. Her heart pounded in her chest.

She wasn't sure how long she could keep running, but she was saved the decision when the forest abruptly ended and they came to a halt on the edge of a lake. The other side was just visible. There was nowhere to go.

"Don't just stand there!" Obi-Wan yelled. She watched as he ran past her, threw his pack on the ground and dove into the lake, swimming towards the opposite shore. Jaina glanced over her shoulder, her skin tingling when she thought she saw the dark thing approaching. Without any argument, she discarded her pack and plunged into the lake and began to swim.

The water was ice-cold. The initial shock when she first dove it was enough to knock her breath away, but Jaina forced herself to swim. It was the only way of escape.

Her clothes weighed her down as she swam and she struggled to keep her head above the water. Her exhausted body protested as she forced it to keep moving through the water. Calling on the Force, she tried to ease away the pain and focus on one thing: survival.

"Jaina, look."

Jaina came to a stop and began treading water. They were about half-way across the lake. Obi-Wan pointed at the shore they had just left; a dark cloud was gathering there. It tentatively approached the water, and then jerked back. Suddenly, it dissipated into nothing.

Jaina stared at the spot where the thing had disappeared. "What was it?"

"I don't know."

They were quiet for several long minutes. Finally, Jaina broke the silence when she realized her teeth were chattering quite noisily.

"Let's keep moving," she said and they swam for shore.

Jaina was grateful when her feet touched solid ground, even though it was ankle-deep mud that stuck and clung to her boots. Coughing and gasping for air, she pulled herself out of the water and onto dry land. After a moment of struggle, she pulled her feet out of the muck and lay down, quite still, on the grass. She tried to bring her breathing back to normal. She closed her eyes.

"Jaina?"

"What?" Jaina croaked. She felt water-logged. Her clothes were sodden.

"Have a look at this."

Jaina sat up and slowly rose to her feet, irritated. "Obi-Wan, I'm trying to recover my strength. What's so important that…"

Her voice faded away as she saw exactly _what_ was so important.

She hadn't noticed it when she had climbed out of the lake, but now she saw it so clearly she wondered how she had missed it. The mountains came right down to the edge of the lake here and in the solid rock wall was the entrance to a cave. It wasn't a natural cave; for one thing, it was broad and arched. For another, it was guarded by two large, ancient-looking pillars decorated with symbols she couldn't even hope to decipher.

It resonated through the Force with the presence of the Dark side.

"I think we've found what we've been looking for," Obi-Wan remarked.

"Yeah," Jaina agreed, staring at the cave entrance. "Yeah, I think we have."

Jaina unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and slowly approached the cave entrance. She stared at the symbols on the pillars. They were strange, archaic – and they sent a cold shiver down her spine. As she stared at them, she noticed that there was one line of symbols that stood out from the rest. It was complex that the symbols themselves became a series of little pictures, repeating over and over again. It took a moment, but it wasn't long before Jaina realized that the intricate carving was that of a reptilian animal, whose long, spiked-tail was entwined around the many-petaled flower. The flower had thick thorns, and the edges of its petals were withered. The reptile's mouth was open, and it appeared to be breathing fire on the flower. Both it and the flower were surrounded by clouds of fire.

Jaina's breath caught in her throat.

"What is this place?" she murmured.

"I don't know," Obi-Wan said, coming to stand next to her. His eyes were narrowed. "But can you sense that? It's filled with the power of the Dark side."

Jaina shivered. "I know."

She glanced at him; Obi-Wan was staring at her, his expression unreadable. Jaina wondered briefly what would happen if she told him the truth about her origins. How would he react? How would things have turned out if she had told someone about time travel?

She swallowed hard. This wasn't the place or the time.

"Let's go," she said, fingering her lightsaber hilt. Obi-Wan nodded and withdrew his own lightsaber.

They advanced cautiously into the cave. It was more like a tunnel than a cave, winding deeper and deeper into the side of the mountain. From what Jaina could see of the walls, they were covered in similar carvings and symbols as the ones on the pillars at the entrance.

Several hundred yards in, the tunnel opened up to a large, high-ceilinged cavern that was roughly rectangular. The walls were smooth rock, gently sloping upwards. Placed at even intervals around the cavern were tall stone pillars, each holding a stone bowl in which a small fire was lit. The dancing flames cast long shadows around the large room. Following their intricate dance, Jaina saw something at one end of the cavern. Without thinking, she rushed forwards.

"Jaina!"

She heard her feet pounding on the stone floor of the cavern; each footstep echoed wildly around the cave. As she neared the opposite side of the cavern, she came to an abrupt halt, filled with so much horror at the realization of what she was seeing that she felt ill.

Lining the walls, all slumped together, were hundreds upon hundreds of Shanthrai, all glassy-eyed and lifeless. The nearest one to her was unmistakably Armik.

"_No."_

She knelt beside him, searching for a pulse, knowing that it was useless.

"Jaina!" Obi-Wan was running towards her. "What are you doing –" He stopped talking as soon as he saw the horror of the cave. "How… what…?"

Jaina shook her head. "I don't know. But now we know what has been happening to the Shanthrai. They're all… dead, Obi-Wan. Every last one of them. I can't even begin to understand why."

"But –"

A sudden _boom_ reverberated around the cavern, cutting off Obi-Wan's words. He and Jaina simultaneously spun around to find the source of the sound and found that the entrance to the cavern had disappeared.

"_Sithspit,"_ Jaina swore under her breath, staring at the blank wall that had been an entrance only moments before. "What's going on here?"

She was answered by another question.

"Who dares to enter my domain?" The voice that spoke was disembodied, high-pitched and cold.

Jaina stood up, gripping her lightsaber tightly. "Who are you to take the lives of an innocent species?" she answered. She thought she sounded much braver than she felt.

"Who are you to defy he could controls life and death, little girl?"

Jaina froze. The voice resonated with such power that it shook her to the very core, paralyzing her.

"We haven't come here to menace you," Obi-Wan called, looking around for the source of the voice. "Tell us what you have done with the Shanthrai and we will let you go in peace."

"_You_ will let me go? _You?"_ The voice laughed. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, you may be a Jedi Master, but you still have much to learn. What is it that you can do that could possibly stop _me?_ The events of this Galaxy are beyond your powers and understanding, boy. You would have been better off to have stayed on Coruscant, dealing with the mundane affairs of the Senate and this so-called _war_. You have come here foolishly and you will pay the price."

"Not if I can help it." He activated his lightsaber, the bright blade casting a flickering blue light around the large cavern.

The voice laughed. "Do you honestly believe that your simple Jedi tricks can outdo my powers? Give up, Kenobi. You have no chance."

"Wait!" Jaina called. "Who _are_ you?"

"The time will come, Jaina Solo, when you will learn that those of _lesser power_ are in no position to ask questions of the Great Ones."

"Yes, well, I'm a slow learner," Jaina answered. "Tell me who you are!" She looked around wildly, trying to pinpoint the disembodied voice. Suddenly, she saw it: in the centre of the cavern, a dark fog was forming. It curled upwards, making the vague shape of a tall humanoid. The voice came from the shadow.

"Very well," the shadow said. "I will tell you. I am the creator of all things. I can bring life and death. I hold the powers of time in my fist. I have all the knowledge of the Force. You do not understand. That is very well; your kind never do. Let us use an analogy. Allow me to take you back to a moment in your now-destroyed past, Jaina Solo. If you are Yun-Harla to the Yuuzhan Vong, then I am Yun-Yuuzhan."

Jaina could feel bile rising in her throat. She watched as the shadow solidified, turning into a tall man, hooded and cloaked. She could not see is face, but his presence in the Force was staggering.

The Dark side was everywhere.

Jaina raised her lightsaber and activated it.

"You," she said, "are a murderer."

She lunged towards him, the violet blade steady in her hand. The previous exhaustion she had felt had disappeared; she was full of new energy.

Jaina was three feet away from her enemy when he raised a pale hand. The action was lazy, casual even. Suddenly, she felt herself being thrown across the cavern, flying high up in the air and tumbling down, down, down…

"JAINA!"

She cried out, then gritted her teeth and reached out with the Force, trying to slow her velocity. The floor rose up to meet her and she landed, hard, on the stone. The wind was knocked from her lungs. She groaned and winced, trying to ignore the pain as she rose to her feet and began to limp towards her enemy, one hand clutching her side.

Obi-Wan had watched her being hurled through the air. After seeing her rise, he turned his attention to the cloaked man. He approached him with caution, searching for weaknesses. Their opponent, however, dismissed this tactic with a sigh. He raised a hand; blue lightning crackled out from his fingertips, striking Obi-Wan in the chest and sending him flying half-way across the cavern.

The cloaked man stood quite still, having hardly moved an inch since the battle had begun. He watched as Obi-Wan struggled to rise.

"Remember this lesson, Obi-Wan Kenobi," he said. "You are weak. The Jedi are weak. That is their downfall – they cannot comprehend all aspects of the Force, and thus are powerless in the face of one who can. That is why the Sith have triumphed – and will always triumph, for all eternity."

"Never!" Jaina shouted, urging her legs to work as she forced herself to run forwards. She charged at her enemy, her lightsaber swinging towards her opponent's head –

The blade stopped an inch from the cloaked man's hooded face. Try as she might, Jaina couldn't move her blade. It was stuck, trapped; something was holding it in place. She cried out and attempted to swing it, but lost her grip on the hilt. She fell to her knees and looked up; the blade was suspended in mid-air. Suddenly, it was flying across the room, propelled by the Force.

She was left defenseless.

"You're attempts are useless, Jaina Solo," the shadow hissed. "You are not powerful enough. You do not have the strength to overcome my powers." He raised his hand again and clenched his fist.

Jaina gasped. Pain unlike anything she had ever felt before was coursing through her body. She collapsed, writhing on the floor. Every cell in her body ached; her face contorted with pain. Tears leaked from her eyes as she panted for air, moaning in agony.

"And so, Jaina Solo," the shadow said, "you die."

"I'm afraid you are mistaken," a calm voice interrupted.

Jaina twisted her head around and looked up; Obi-Wan, bruised and battered, was standing behind the cloaked man, his lightsaber burning brightly in his hand. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were very calm. Before the shadow had time to react, he plunged his lightsaber through the cloaked man's back.

The shadow screamed. He stumbled, falling forwards – and with a terrible, brutal sound, the air around him ripped open. Wind whistled through the cavern, tearing at her hair, at her clothes. The flames on the tops of the pillars in the cavern blew out. For a brief moment, Jaina looked into the heart of the whirling cyclone that was Time – the burning lights, the roaring sounds, so familiar from her own trip through the wormhole – and then the shadow fell into the vortex and sealed the portal behind him.

The wind immediately faded, as if it hadn't existed. With a reverberating _boom_, the entrance to the cavern re-appeared.

Jaina collapsed back on the floor.

Obi-Wan rushed over and knelt beside her. "Are you all right?" he asked anxiously, helping her sit up.

"I'm fine," Jaina gasped, wincing. She pressed a hand to her side. "It hurts to breathe. I think I might have broken a rib or two."

"Here, let me help you."

Jaina put an arm around his shoulder and let him hoist her back onto her feet. She was too tired to argue.

"I would like to know who he was," Obi-Wan said after a moment's silence. "And what he was doing." He glanced towards the limp figures of the Shanthrai.

"I think he goes a little further past the whole _Dark Lord of the Sith_ thing," Jaina said quietly. "He's a psychopath."

"I have never met anyone with that kind of power."

"Nor have I."

They were silent again.

"Yun-Harla," Obi-Wan murmured. "Yun-Yuuzhan. What did he mean by those? What are they?"

Jaina swallowed hard. "They're gods," she said. "They're the deities of the Yuuzhan Vong."

"The what?"

Jaina raised a hand to her mouth. For some reason, she felt like either crying or shouting. She trembled as she tried to control her emotions.

"Jaina," Obi-Wan said gently, "you can tell me. I trust you."

"What good is trust if you couldn't possibly believe what I say is true?" Jaina replied softly.

She watched his face for a moment; he seemed to be fighting with himself. Several times he started to say something before he finally decided how to say it.

"Jaina," he began, "it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. I've been watching you ever since we met on the _Invisible Hand._ I do admit at first I was puzzled by your presence on Grievous' ship; I thought for certain you were spies, trained in the ways of the Force by Sith Lords, but my initial assumptions were proven wrong just hours after meeting you. I knew without a doubt that you could not be a Sith. The way you used the Force – you're a Jedi, through and through. I knew that you were not a Sith, so I became curious – instead of wary – about your origins. I asked you on this mission so I could discover more about you. This mission has given me proof to an idea that I originally considered to be illogical, unreasonable and entirely impossible."

"And… what idea was that?"

Obi-Wan locked eyes with her. "That you are out of your time," he said. "That you are from either the future or the past. That you have travelled through time. Why, I do not know, but I have seen enough to place full confidence in my theory."

Suddenly, Jaina laughed. She couldn't help herself. She should never have underestimated the power of thought of a curious Jedi Master.

Obi-Wan looked taken aback by her unusual response. "What is it?"

Jaina forced herself to stop laughing and winced; pain was shooting through her chest. Once it was under control, she turned to Obi-Wan and smiled. "I knew I should have said something sooner," she said. "But I guess I am a really _bad_ actor. Or you're just very smart."

He looked puzzled; then his expression filled with understanding. He blinked and looked incredulously at her. "Seriously?"

Jaina nodded. "Yes."

"You've travelled through time?"

"Yes."

"From when?"

"Fifty years in your future. Approximately."

"Why?"

That was the question she had been dreading. What to say? How to explain it?

There was only one way: the truth.

"Anakin Skywalker," she said quietly. "He's going to do something I have to try to stop. If I don't, the entire future of the Galaxy is at stake."

"What do you have to do?" Obi-Wan inquired.

"Stop him from turning to the Dark side."

Silence.

"What?" His expression was incredulous, unbelieving.

"It's true," Jaina said simply. "I know he's your friend, Obi-Wan, and that makes it even harder to accept, but right now Anakin's headed down a dark path. Kyp and I have to stop him… before it's too late."

"Anakin would never turn," Obi-Wan said firmly.

"Even if his best friend is a Sith Lord?" Jaina inquired.

Obi-Wan blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Palpatine," Jaina said. "The Chancellor is Darth Sidious. Please, Obi-Wan, you have to believe me. We've been trying to talk to Anakin ever since we got here, but he's so close to the Chancellor that it's almost impossible to create a rift between them. Palpatine's going to turn him to the Dark side. He'll become Darth Vader and annihilate the Jedi."

Obi-Wan stared at her. "You can't be serious! Anakin would never do that!"

"It happened in my past, Obi-Wan," Jaina said. "It happened. It will happen if Kyp and I don't do something. In twenty years time, the Jedi will be nothing if we don't stop it. Anakin has to kill Palpatine if we have any chance against the Empire they'll create."

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "If you're so keen on preventing Anakin from falling to the Dark side, then why are you here with me?"

Jaina bit her lip. "That man we fought," she said quietly. "Did you see what he did? The vortex. Did you see the vortex?"

"I saw something that I was sure was just my imagination—"

"No!" Jaina shook her head. "It was _not_ your imagination. He opened the time vortex and slipped through. He can control time. He's not the only one. Palpatine can do it, too. Listen to me, Obi-Wan. In my past, Anakin turned back to the light and tried to kill Palpatine. But the Emperor survived by slipping into time. He was not destroyed, and Anakin died trying to kill him. Anakin's the Chosen One; he's supposed to bring balance to the Force. He's the only one who can kill Palpatine. _That's_ why I was sent to this time. As for why I'm here with you, well… Palpatine can see the future. Or multiple futures. He knows who I am. He knows what I'm trying to do. He tried to kill me on Coruscant. Kyp _told_ me to go on this mission, to keep me safe." She glanced around the cavern. "That did not work very well."

"You think that man was Palpatine?" Obi-Wan asked.

Jaina shook her head. "I don't know," she murmured. "I don't know who he was. There was so much… _power_ in his presence, it was impossible to tell whether it was someone I knew or not."

They were silent again. Jaina was lost in her thoughts and Obi-Wan seemed to be trying to come to terms with the information that a time traveler had arrived in this era in order to stop his best friend from falling to the Dark side.

"We must return to Coruscant," Obi-Wan said finally. "We need to get to Anakin right away. He visits the Chancellor every day; he's been appointed the Chancellor's personal representative on the Jedi Council –"

"What?!" Jaina cried.

"—we have to act right away," Obi-Wan finished. "If what you say is correct…"

"Then we have been wasting valuable time here," Jaina said. "I should never have left."

"You had no choice," Obi-Wan said. "How could I have known what you were trying to do? And Kyp did what he thought was best for you –"

Jaina snorted. "I wish he'd stop doing that," she muttered.

"—and the Shanthrai, well…" Obi-Wan's voice faded away. "That man was using them for something. Hopefully we've managed to stop it, but it doesn't change the fact that _he _was committing genocide and their entire race has nearly been extinguished."

Jaina glanced at the lifeless forms of the Shanthrai. "It's horrible," she whispered. "Absolutely horrible. I don't even want to know what the purpose of abducting and killing them was."

"We might never find out," Obi-Wan said. He pursed his lips. "We should tell the Shanthrai that their people are here. They'll know what to do. We've done all we can."

Jaina nodded. "Yes." She glanced towards the now open exit to the cave; she looked at Obi-Wan and smiled tightly. "Let's get back to Coruscant. I really hope nothing has happened to Anakin yet."

"So do I," Obi-Wan murmured.


	27. Revelation

**CHAPTER XXVII**

**Revelation**

On Coruscant, night had fallen on two Jedi. One was locked in dreams, the other suspended in a dark prison within time itself.

While one merely watched a vision of the future, the other tried relentlessly to free himself from capture. Both struggled valiantly, but a chain of events were about to be released, and their futures were tied directly to it.

The Light was setting on the Galaxy. The time of choice had come.

* * *

Kyp lay in complete darkness, his mind relentlessly searching for something he had little hope of finding: an exit to the prison Darth Sidious had trapped him in. Though it required no physical effort, he was already exhausted.

But he would not, could not, give up hope of finding an escape. Sidious was not the only one who had travelled through time. If he could put Kyp in this prison, Kyp could find a way out.

Several images came into his mind, unbidden. The battle with Grievous in the _Invisible Hand_… Anakin, fighting with all his might, cold and accurate. Except, in this vision, he was fighting with a red blade instead of his normal blue one.

Kyp shuddered. He was on the losing side. How much time had passed since he had been captured? How long would it be before Palpatine had complete control of Anakin and Darth Vader was born?

_Damn it!_ Kyp swore. He opened his eyes and stared into the black.

Had everything been futile? Had everything he had ever done been entirely in vain? Perhaps Anakin's destiny was unchangeable. Perhaps the emergence of Darth Vader was unavoidable. If there was anything else he could have done, Kyp would have done it. Anything to prevent the oncoming disaster.

Perhaps the destruction of the Galaxy was unavoidable. For once Darth Vader was born, then there was no going back.

A darker thought crossed his mind.

_Will this all come to pass while I'm_ trapped _here? Is it happening right now? Damn it!_

He forced himself to breath slowly, even though he felt like shouting. He was useless here! Sidious was devious indeed. It would have taken too much effort to eliminate him merely by killing him. Instead, he had trapped him in a place that he could not escape. A place where he would have to lay in darkness for eternity, trapped in the folds of time…

Kyp couldn't even begin to imagine how Palpatine had managed it.

"Damn it," he muttered.

This battle for ultimate power and dominion was almost too difficult to understand. Once they had begun to play with time, the stakes had grown even higher than before.

What had they done by meddling with time?

Kyp couldn't even begin to answer his own question.

_Stars, Jaina,_ Kyp thought. _If you do survive this, I'm sorry for what I've caused._

* * *

_He is cloaked in fog and mist as he runs the forest path, deep in the jungle. Through the fog, he can see the snarled branches of large trees; he can see the tangles of vines looping around the tree trunks. There is a weight to the grey fog that swirls around him – a heavy weight that seems to foretell doom._

_Though the path is not familiar to him, his feet seem to know where they are going. In the distance, so far away that he can barely hear them, he thinks he can hear screams and shouts. Suddenly, something falls through the canopy of leaves and branches above, setting it on fire._

_He turns around and blinks – the jungle seems to sway and fade and then it returns, as clear as the morning sun. It is not the image it was before. The tangles of branches are on fire. The thick vegetation is burning. Smoke stings his eyes. His feet take this chance to decide that he needs to run._

_"PADMÉ!"_

_His voice sounds strangled. There is chaos all around, growing ever stronger. He can see nothing but flaming branches being pierced by red blaster bolts. Men in white armour plunge through the forest. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a group of people run past him – there is a dark haired woman with a blaster in one hand, tears streaking down her face. She's accompanied by four other men, two of whom are supporting a third, who is struggling valiantly to return to the clearing that they are leaving. They are all shouting, but Anakin cannot make out what they're saying._

_Suddenly, everything is washed away in grey fog, cloaked and disguised. Anakin turns, searching for a way out from this blindness, but he cannot find one. His breathing becomes strained as he forces his way through the fog._

_It clears again, just as suddenly as it has appeared. He is still in the jungle, but it is different now. There are no signs of the men or the woman. The flames have gone out and the jungle is no longer burning. It is raining now, creating muddy pools of water on the forest floor._

_Across the clearing, he can see the faint form of a collapsed woman, trapped beneath a heavy piece of durasteel. He runs towards her, intent on helping her, but he skids to a halt as a group of white-armored soldiers appear out of the forest._

_Clones._

_They're accompanying someone – a dark cloaked man. He kneels next to the woman. Cautiously, Anakin approaches – and his mind explodes with fire._

_The woman is Padmé – collapsed, crushed, bruised. She is laying limply in the mud, the rain washing away the faint trickles of blood on her face and neck. Anakin tries to scream and run forwards to help her, but he cannot move. Instead, he watches helplessly as the clones move the durasteel and retrieve Padmé from under it. He wants to follow them as they carry her away, but he is forced to stand still._

_"Your Majesty," the closest clone trooper asks, "what shall we do with her?"_

_"Bring her to the ship. We have places for traitors to the Empire such as her. She is a dangerous, but valuable enemy." The man pauses. "And if she does not co-operate… then have her killed."_

_Anakin's heart freezes._

_He knows that voice._

_He stares, unbelievingly, at the cloaked man as he passes by. For a brief moment, Anakin can see the face beneath the hood and he feels his entire body turn to ice._

_The man is Palpatine._

"NO!"

Anakin woke gasping for breath as if he had just broken through the surface of a lake after being under water for a very long time. Sitting up, he wiped sweat off his brow and rolled out of bed. It was early in the morning; through Padmé's windows, he could just see the sky turning a faint shade of red. Padmé was still fast asleep. Somehow, his shout hadn't woken her.

It was just as well. He didn't want to panic her; she didn't need to know that this particular dream had caused his heart to start beating rapidly out of control. The dream – he could still see it in his eye's mind, clearer than any memory.

Padmé, sprawled in the dirt, injured.

Palpatine, capturing her.

_Bring her to the ship. We have places for traitors to the Empire such as her. She is a dangerous, but valuable enemy. And if she does not co-operate… then have her killed._

He knew that voice and the way it carried authority. As much as he wanted to deny it, it was Palpatine who had uttered those words.

Anakin frowned. _Empire_… There was no such thing as an Empire. But, if he knew anything from the experience with the nightmares about his mother, his dreams were not to be taken lightly. They were always one step ahead of him, just out of reach. If there wasn't an Empire now, there would be one later.

_No,_ Anakin thought vehemently. _It's not possible. What a ridiculous… wait._

If there was a very small chance that an Empire might form in this Galaxy, it would spring from the ashes of the Republic. The Republic was in danger; Padmé had made that point clear enough, and it wasn't the war that was the threat. It was the clauses, the new decrees. Who passed the laws? Who was in control of the decrees, who let motions be passed in the Senate?

Palpatine.

Padmé had told him that she couldn't trust the Chancellor anymore. She had her doubts from a political aspect.

Anakin was beginning to draw his from something else.

Palpatine had control of the Senate. Nothing that happened there passed without his knowing. If there was a way for the Republic to fall, it would be from within, not outside. The Separatists were defeated and were escaping into the outer reaches of the Galaxy.

Palpatine had the power.

In Anakin's dream, he had uttered the word _"empire."_ The clone trooper had called him _"Your Majesty."_

This Empire would be his – Palpatine's – new dominion, born from the ashes of a wounded Republic that Palpatine himself would bring to its knees. Of that, Anakin was certain. Something inside him clicked; it made sense.

His stomach tightened; how could Palpatine betray the people he had sought to lead? Worst of all, he was Anakin's friend. He couldn't let Palpatine form this Empire, but how was he supposed to stop him from doing just that?

The solution was easy: he would talk to him.

An inner voice told him that that was not a good idea. Anakin felt that he was missing something. Some fact continued to escape him, something about Palpatine that he didn't know… Besides, he had no evidence except for the laws and decrees Palpatine had passed, and what did he really know about them? Nothing. He was acting on nothing except for a few strands of information about politics that he didn't really understand and a dream.

Besides, Palpatine was his friend. Anakin had known him since childhood.

That made everything worse.

"Ani?"

Anakin glanced over his shoulder. Padmé was stirring; she raised her head and looked inquiringly at him. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I had another dream," he said.

He heard her sigh.

"How bad was it?"

How to tell her? How to tell her what he had seen, what it meant?

"It's nothing," Anakin found himself saying. He turned to her and kissed her on the forehead. "I have to leave now," he said. "I'll see you tonight."

She smiled. "Tonight."

Anakin left for the Jedi Temple without another word. His mind was preoccupied.

* * *

By mid-afternoon, Anakin had made his decision. He had attended a long, dull Council meeting in the morning (he couldn't even remember the topic – something to do with pulling back Jedi from planets no longer in danger from the Separatists) and once he had been freed, he had wandered the halls of the Jedi Temple, replaying the dream in his mind. Finally, he left the Temple and headed to the Chancellor's office under the pretense of going to give him news of the recent developments.

Anakin had a completely different reason for going.

When he arrived, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic was sitting behind his desk in his private office. He looked distracted.

"Ah, Anakin," he said without looking up.

"Chancellor," Anakin said, "we must talk."

Palpatine glanced up at him and smiled. "Anything for you, my friend."

"What do you intend by the Sector Governance Decree?"

Palpatine stared at him for a long moment, his expression unreadable. "Have you developed a recent interest in politics, Anakin?"

Anakin did not smile. "You're my friend, Chancellor," he said. "Tell me the truth. This law you passed – it gives you total control of every planet, every world in the Galaxy."

"In a way," Palpatine said calmly. "The people need guidance, Anakin. I'm the one to give it to them. The Sector Governance Degree provides for a safer Republic."

"That is a lot of responsibility for one man," Anakin commented.

"I am sure I can handle it, Anakin. You need not worry."

"Of course not," Anakin said. "You will have total control. You'll know exactly what is happening on every system in the Republic."

"In a way."

"You'll be a dictator." He said it more furiously than he had intended. He saw Palpatine's eyes narrow and a strange expression flashed across his face for a moment – Anakin wasn't sure if it was irritation or fear.

"Anakin," Palpatine said slowly, folding his hands together, "who gave you this… awkward perception?"

"I came to it from my own conclusions," Anakin replied shortly. "So you don't deny it?"

"Deny what, may I ask?"

"The fact that you'll be a dictator?" Anakin hissed.

"Anakin, whoever told you so has stretched the truth. I assure you, you have been misinformed." Palpatine leaned back casually in his chair and observed Anakin through unblinking eyes.

_Padmé wouldn't lie to me,_ Anakin thought. _Not once in a million different life times…_ But the Chancellor was his friend, and Anakin trusted his friends. What Palpatine was telling him contradicted Padmé's words – and that was troubling enough as it was. What was the Chancellor trying to do?

"I am your friend, am I not?" Palpatine asked, interrupting Anakin's flow of thoughts.

"Well, yes –"

"So, you do not trust me?" Palpatine's eyes narrowed. "Or," he said mildly, smiling again, "is there someone whose word you would trust above all else, no matter what the cost?"

"Chancellor, I don't understand—"

"Anakin, I know that husbands usually trust their wives and value their opinions above all else," Palpatine interrupted. "I value your faith in Senator Amidala, but this time, I believe it is a faith misplaced."

The room seemed to darken; his heart began to beat rapidly. He could feel every muscle in his body tensing, but yet Anakin froze. It was as if the Chancellor's words had been a paralyzing dart; he couldn't move a muscle, try though he might. How did Palpatine _know?_ Of all the things Anakin had ever shared with him, his secret love for Padmé, their marriage, their entire relationship had been kept hidden. Secret. Safe. No one had known.

Anakin opened his mouth to say something, to deny Palpatine's correct assumption, to provide some excuse, but his tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of his mouth. He couldn't speak.

"Anakin, relax," Palpatine said kindly. "Your secret is safe with me. Who would I tell? No one. I've kept every secret you ever told me, ever since you were a little boy. The knowledge of your marriage to Padmé will not leave this room, I assure you."

Finally, Anakin managed to wrench his tongue from the roof of his mouth. "What do you mean? What marriage?"

At that moment, the Chancellor sighed exasperatedly. It was something Anakin rarely heard from him. "Anakin, please. Are we not past the point of playing childish games? I _know._ I've always known. I have pretended to be ignorant only to spare you discomfort."

"What do you know?" Anakin's eyes were flat. His thoughts flickered to Padmé – her worried face as she told him of her fears for the Republic, her fears about Palpatine. Her fears, which had turned into Anakin's fears the moment he had seen the Chancellor kneeling beside Padmé's broken form, giving the order for her arrest.

_We have places for traitors to the Empire such as her._

"Anakin, you forget that Naboo is my home," Palpatine was saying. "Padmé was my Queen once; I served her here, in the Senate. You of all people know how I value loyalty and friendship; do you think I have no friends among the civil clergy in Theed? Your secret ceremony has never been secret. Not from me, at any rate. I have always been very happy for you both."

_So happy for us both that he would tear us apart?_ The images from Anakin's dream flashed before his eyes.

"You… you have?"

Palpatine nodded and smiled. "Of course. Why would I not be?"

"I –"

Palpatine's hand came down hard on his desk. "But as happy for you as I am, I am afraid that you may not know Padmé as well as you think you do."

"What?"

"She is," Palpatine said, continuing as if there hadn't been an interruption, "first and foremost, a politician. In the history of politics, politicians have never been honest. They have never been trustful. They lie, they hide their true feelings, they force you to change your own ideas to match their own. They work on an agenda –"

"What are you accusing Padmé of?" Anakin interjected angrily. He was confused; what was the Chancellor trying to do? Put mistrust between Anakin and his wife? After all he had said about being happy for both of them, this was unexpected.

"I am accusing her of nothing," Palpatine replied. "She has only acted as any politician would." From his desk, he withdrew a datapad and handed it to Anakin. Anakin stared at the screen, confused by the names that flashed across the screen.

_Bail Organa  
Mon Mothma  
Terr Taneel  
Fang Zar  
Padmé Amidala_

There were more names, but Anakin's eyes refused to read past Padmé's name. He glanced up at the Chancellor, who was watching him expectantly.

"What is this?" Anakin asked shortly.

"A list," Palpatine replied calmly, "of all the Senators who… dislike the fact that I hold the office of Chancellor. Those are the Senators who do not want me to be Chancellor. Those are the Senators who, for their own personal motives, would replace me with someone who would be under their complete control."

"But… Padmé?" Anakin stared at the list again. Padmé's name shone up at him, clear as day. A hard lump was forming in Anakin's throat; Padmé hadn't told him. Padmé hadn't trusted him with this information.

"She would betray you?" The incredulity in his voice astonished him.

Palpatine nodded sadly. "Yes, she would. And in betraying me, she has betrayed you, too. By failing to trust you, she has betrayed you."

Anakin shook his head vehemently. "No… _no._ It was a secret. We all have secrets. I think I know that better than anyone else. There are things that I know that I haven't told Padmé. It's all right. She's allowed her secrets."

The Chancellor sighed and reclined back in his chair, a satisfied expression flickering across his face. Anakin barely noticed.

"What are you going to do to her?" Anakin asked, his throat constricting. If Padmé protesting against the Chancellor, she was getting in his way. Wouldn't that make her a traitor?

"Nothing, my dear boy," Palpatine said. "Nothing at all. The others will… suffer certain consequences, but Padmé is the wife of my best friend. She herself is an old acquaintance. I would do nothing to hurt her." He tilted his head. "Anakin – answer me honestly. Have I ever done anything – anything at all – to gain your mistrust?"

Anakin thought. No… there was nothing. In all his years of knowing the Chancellor, Palpatine had never done anything to hurt him.

Except in his dream.

But it was just a dream, wasn't it?

"I've kept all your secrets, Anakin," Palpatine continued. "The story about what happened at the Tusken camp? You shared that with me. I have told no one. Your marriage to Padmé? I have told no one. The secrets you could not bear to tell the Jedi Master, the secrets you could not tell _Obi-Wan_, are all secrets that I have kept. You have my complete trust."

Anakin sighed. Everything he said was true. In a flash of anger and confusion, his mind had twisted the long friendship he had had with Palpatine. His fears were completely unfounded. After all, how much faith could he put in a dream? And though he loved Padmé, Palpatine was right. She was a politician. She did things her own way, for her own purposes.

And weren't politicians not to be trusted?

When Anakin glanced back up at Palpatine, he saw that his friend was smiling encouragingly at him.

"You see?" he said.

"Yes," Anakin said. "I'm… sorry, Chancellor. Sometimes I act before I think."

Anakin thought he heard a low chuckle. "Don't we all," Palpatine said.

_She is a dangerous, but valuable enemy. And if she does not co-operate… then have her killed._

Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream…!

"Anakin, are you not feeling well? You look ill."

Anakin snapped back to the present. "N-no… I'm fine."

"May I offer you something to drink?"

"No, thank you, Chancellor."

"Then at least sit down." Palpatine pointed to the chair that Anakin usually took when he visited the office. "You've been standing for far too long. It was discourteous of me."

Anakin sat. He wondered why he hadn't done so before and then remembered that he had been too angry, too confused to sit down.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Palpatine pressed.

"I… I'm just tired." The dream had woken him early and his mind had been uneasy ever since.

"Not sleeping well?"

"I haven't been sleeping well for years," Anakin said.

"Is it the dreams again?"

How did he always know the truth?

Anakin didn't say anything. He stared at his hands instead. He had been biting his fingernails. He didn't even remember biting his fingernails…

"Anakin," Palpatine said, "whatever it is, you can share it with me. The whole truth. The absolute truth. I won't reveal your secrets."

Anakin glanced up at him again. "I…" How to explain it? How did he tell his friend that he had seen him capturing Padmé? How did he reveal the truth about what he saw? Anakin shuddered as the dream flashed vividly in front of his eyes again. "I wouldn't even know how to begin," he said finally, knowing Palpatine was waiting patiently for an answer.

"It's very simple, Anakin." Palpatine had unfolded his hands and was tapping his fingers on his desk. "The key to understanding the truth about yourself – the truth about what is truly troubling you -- is to first understand what you want."

"What… what I want?" Anakin frowned. What good was that? There was only one thing he desperately wanted and he knew talking about it wasn't going to help bring it about. "I don't understand."

Palpatine sighed. "Of course you don't. You've been trained never to think about that. The Jedi never ask what you want. They simply tell you what you're _supposed_ to want. You're indoctrinated with their beliefs; you've never had a choice in the matter. The Jedi enslave you to a life without choice. That is why they take their students at such a young age – to brainwash them, to wipe out even the slightest chance of having them think for themselves. By the time a Jedi Padawan is capable of making decisions about his desires, he is incapable of even comprehending the question."

"Chancellor, I don't think you –"

_"Stop."_ It was an order – and the word was forceful. "You're different, Anakin. You had a life outside the Jedi Temple. You had a mother; she was the one who made you the man you are today, not the Jedi. Because of her teachings, because of her love, you are able to break through the fog of lies the Jedi have pumped into your brain. I ask you again: what do you _want?"_

Anakin swallowed. What was the purpose of this? He couldn't see the reasoning behind it. It seemed that ever since he had rescued Palpatine from the _Invisible Hand_, every conversation Anakin had with him was about the Jedi – and the negative aspects Palpatine saw so keenly.

"I don't understand," Anakin said finally.

The Chancellor's eyes glinted. "I am offering you… anything." He waved his hand. "Ask, and you shall receive. A glass of water? Yours. A bag full of Corusca gems? Yours. Look out the window behind me, Anakin. Pick something and it's yours."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "Is this some kind of joke?" he asked bluntly. If it was, it wasn't funny.

"The time for jokes is past, Anakin," Palpatine said impatiently. "I have never been more serious. Pick something. Anything."

"All right…" Anakin looked out the window. It was twilight now; how long had he been here? His eyes followed the constantly moving traffic as he thought. Now that he looked back on his past life, always material possessions meant nothing. As a Jedi, the only thing he truly _owned_ was his lightsaber. Everything else meant nothing. His recollection of his days as a Jedi was starkly different from his days on Tatooine. On Tatooine, he had possessions. He could claim ownership of a few meager objects. He had build C-3PO – 3PO was his droid, no questions asked.

Now, C-3PO wasn't his droid anymore. He didn't "own" him.

He didn't own anything.

"A SoroSuub custom speeder?" Anakin asked after he saw one flit by in the evening traffic.

"Done."

Anakin turned to the Chancellor, incredulous. "Seriously? Do you know how much one of those costs? You could practically outfit a _battle_ cruiser –"

"Would you prefer a battle cruiser?"

Anakin froze. Palpatine was, he knew now, quite serious. The tone of voice with which he spoke was not one a person would use casually.

A small, quiet part of Anakin's mind suddenly sprang to life. If he could own anything in the Galaxy, anything at all…

"How about the Senatorial Apartments?"

"A private apartment?"

_A home,_ a voice whispered in his mind. _The first real home you'd have since you left Tatooine._

Suddenly, Anakin wanted to put something to the test.

"The whole building."

"Done."

Anakin nearly choked. "It's privately owned—"

"Not any more."

"You can't just –"

"Yes, I can. It's yours. Is there anything else? Name it."

On impulse, Anakin said the wildest thing he could think of.

"Corellia. I'll take Corellia."

"The planet, or the whole system?"

Anakin choked this time, but he knew that the Chancellor was serious.

"Anakin?"

"I just…" He broke off and shook his head. "I can't figure out if you're kidding, or completely insane. What's the point of this?"

Palpatine smiled gently. "I am neither 'kidding' nor insane, Anakin," he said softly. "I am merely trying to establish something that has almost – but not quite – been bred out of you by the false teachings of the Jedi Order. To have whatever you want, you must first do what you want."

"What I want?"

"Yes, Anakin. Exactly that – and only that. Do the one thing that the Jedi fear most: make up your _own_ mind. Make your own decisions. Follow your conscience and do what you think is right. The materialistic things that you mentioned – all the things in the Galaxy that you could have – those are not what this is about. This is something greater. To have what you want, you must act upon it. You long for a life greater than that of an ordinary Jedi. Don't try to deny it – I _know_ you. It is what you truly want, and it is what you have always wanted. Commit to that life, Anakin. You burn for a greater power than any Jedi can wield. You have a dream of leaving the Jedi Order and having a family of your own. A life that is based on love, something an ordinary Jedi can never fully understand. Follow that dream."

"I…" Palpatine's words came close to the cold, hard truth. Anakin _had_ thought long and hard about his situation. He would have a family soon. Was it fair to his child that he should continue this life of secrecy? As a Jedi, he would never see his son or daughter. He would leave the child to grow up in Padmé's care. The child would never really know its father. And Padmé… he couldn't let Padmé raise their son or daughter by herself.

He had a commitment to her. He had made a vow the day he had married her. That vow went beyond any oath he had sworn to the Jedi.

"But… I can't just leave!" he said suddenly. Without thinking, he had voiced the lingering thought that was buried beneath all the others. He couldn't just leave the Jedi Order. It was impossible.

"But you can," Palpatine said.

Anakin felt as though his muscles had stopped functioning. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe; he couldn't even blink.

"Turn aside from the lies of the Jedi," the Chancellor said. "Follow the truth of yourself! Leave them. Join me on the path of true power. Be my friend, Anakin, as you have been for all these past years. Be my student. Be my apprentice."

Twilight was falling. The sky glowed red.

_Padmé is on the ground; collapsed, crushed, bruised. She is laying limply in the mud, the rain washing away the faint trickles of blood on her face and neck._

Anakin brought himself out of his stupor. "No," he said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Chancellor, but as much as I want those things – as much as I care for you, sir – I can't. I just can't. Not yet. There's something that I have to do first. It's the only thing I really want –"

"I know what you truly want." Palpatine's voice was cold, hard. "I have only been waiting for you to admit it to yourself. Listen to me: I can help you save her."

"You—"

_He watches helplessly as the clones move the durasteel and retrieve Padmé from under it. He wants to follow them as they carry her away, but he is forced to stand still._

_"Your Majesty," the closest clone trooper asks, "what shall we do with her?"_

_"Bring her to the ship. We have places for traitors to the Empire such as her. She is a dangerous, but valuable enemy." The man pauses. "And if she does not co-operate… then have her killed."_

"How?" Anakin choked. _You're the one who's going to kill her…_

"Do you remember the myth I told you of? _The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?"_ Palpatine's voice was little more than a whisper.

"Yes." Anakin's voice was inaudible. The myth… the legend… the god-like Sith Lord who could create life, who could _control_ life, save people from death…

If he could do that, he would never have to fear for Padmé's life again.

"Anakin, it's not mere myth."

Anakin swallowed.

"Darth Plagueis was real."

_"Real…?"_ He was speaking in a strangled whisper now. His throat was stuck.

"Darth Plagueis was my Master. He taught me the key to his powers…" Palpatine's voice was mild, humorous in a strange way. "…before I killed him."

The Galaxy seemed to have come crashing down around him. Anakin was not aware of getting to his feet, but suddenly he found himself standing. His lightsaber was in his hand, but his mind was stuck. Trapped. He couldn't think.

_Darth Plagueis was my Master before I killed him._

Padmé lying in the dirt. Padmé dying in agony…

_Plagueis never saw it coming. The irony… he could save anyone in the Galaxy from death – anyone except himself._

Padmé trapped, surrounded by enemies. He cannot help her.

_It is the story of a Dark Lord of the Sith who had turned his sight inward so deeply that he had come to comprehend, and master, life itself. And – because the two are one, when seen clearly enough – death itself._

He cannot save her. The clones are there.

_Your Majesty, what shall we do with her?_

Majesty. Royalty.

_Bring her to the ship. We have places for traitors to the Empire such as her. She is a dangerous, but valuable enemy. And if she does not co-operate… then have her killed._

Empire. Emperor. Majesty. Royalty.

Unlimited power.

Palpatine.

It all made sense now. Palpatine knew the powers of the Force. He had worked his way to the top of the government, and now no one had the power to challenge him – not even the Jedi. He had learned the ways of the Force from Darth Plagueis. He would create the Empire and crown himself Emperor. He would have all those who stood against him killed –

Including Padmé, old friendships or not.

"You!"

Anakin felt dizzy. Part of him wanted to deny the truth.

"It's been _you_ all along!"

His lightsaber was activated now. The bright blue blade cast an odd light around the dark office, mixing with the sun's last rays as it set.

"I should _kill_ you," Anakin hissed. "I _will_ kill you!"

Palpatine merely smiled. "For what?"

"You're a Sith Lord!"

"I am," he answered. "And I am your friend."

The lightsaber wavered.

"I am also the man who has always been here for you. I am the man you have never needed to lie to. I am the man who wants nothing from you but that you follow your conscience. If that conscience requires you to commit murder, simply over a… philosophical difference… I will not resist."

Anakin frowned and lowered his blade. "You won't even fight?"

"Anakin," Palpatine said gently, "when I told you that you can have anything you want, did you think I was excluding my life?" He paused and sighed. "Just think of this – what will happen when you kill me? What will happen to the Republic? What will happen to Padmé?"

_"Padmé…"_ Anakin swallowed hard. No! It was all wrong. He had made sense of everything.

But now it was all slipping away.

"When I die, my knowledge dies with me."

He wouldn't have the ability to save Padmé if he killed Palpatine.

"I…"

The dream flashed before his eyes. _Padmé, wounded. The clones. The Emperor… Palpatine. "We have places for traitors to the Empire such as her."_

Anakin gritted his teeth. If he killed Palpatine, that would never happen. The Empire, the Emperor, Padmé in danger. None of that would happen.

The lightsaber wavered.

If he killed him, he would be murdering his best friend. He would be committing treason against the Republic for assassinating the Chancellor. He would be destroying the knowledge of life and death – forever.

"I know what you are," Anakin said slowly, speaking through his teeth. "I know who you are. I know what you can do for me, but I also know how you can hurt me – hurt the ones I love." The lightsaber inched towards Palpatine's face. The Chancellor didn't even blink. "But I won't kill you," Anakin continued. "I can't kill you." He deactivated his lightsaber.

Palpatine smiled and spread his hands. "Anakin, my son –"

"No!" Anakin locked eyes with the Chancellor. "I will tell the Jedi Council. They will find the best way to deal with you." He turned around swiftly and walked towards the Chancellor's office exit. All the while, Anakin could feel Palpatine's eyes boring into his back as he watched him leave.

"You will have to make your own decisions this time, Anakin," Palpatine called.

Anakin froze.

"The Jedi Council cannot make them for you. The time is at hand… Chosen One."

Anakin shivered and glanced back over his shoulder. Palpatine was staring purposefully at him. Anakin paused, then turned his back on the Chancellor and left the office.

Inside, his thoughts where whirling.

Inside, he made a decision – the first of many.


	28. The Point of No Return

**CHAPTER XXVIII**

**The Point of No Return**

By the time Anakin returned to the Jedi Temple, he had slipped into a trance-like state. Palpatine's revelation echoed in the back of his mind, becoming the beat to which he sprinted down the corridor. He had three purposes now: he needed to find a Jedi Master, tell him or her about Palpatine and then find Padmé. His mind called up the image of the list Palpatine had shown him in his office – Padmé's name glared up at him. She had been plotting against him, and that made her an enemy.

The Chancellor removed his enemies, whether they were close to Anakin or not. At this very moment, Anakin knew that Palpatine would stop at nothing. He would remove Padmé, no matter what the consequences. She was a threat to his power.

The thought made his blood run cold.

Lost in his thoughts, Anakin barely noticed where he was going when he barreled into Mace Windu, who was emerging from the comm centre of Jedi Command. The impact caused him to fall over sideways, but the Jedi Master caught hold of his arm and steadied him.

"Skywalker?"

"Master… Windu?" The words were barely more than a whisper – Anakin's voice was hoarse and he was out of breath.

"Are you all right?" Windu demanded. "What's wrong?"

Anakin shook his head vehemently.

_Palpatine. Sith Lord. _

"Anakin, you must tell me what's wrong, you don't look well—"

"_Shut… up… and listen… to me!"_ Anakin looked up at the Jedi Master. "You have… to listen… to me."

"Here, Skywalker, calm down—"

"NO!" Why did everyone turn a blind eye whenever he had something important to say? Anakin struggled as Windu tried to half lead, half carry him to a chair inside the comm centre. "You can't – please, Master Windu, just listen to me, he's going to kill her if I don't—"

"Anakin, you must try to answer. Have you been attacked? Are you injured? You have to tell me what's wrong!" Windu looked genuinely worried.

Anakin pulled his arm out of his grasp and backed away. He was about to answer when his legs gave out from under him and he collapsed on the floor.

"Skywalker! Anakin!"

Anakin raised his head. "Master… Windu…" He was forcing his voice to function; it took all his willpower to make it work. "I have… he's…I found out that…"

For a moment, the room seemed to waver in front of his eyes and something akin to an electric shock ran down his spine. His senses ablaze, Anakin rose to his feet, staggered sideways and leaned against the nearest wall for support. There was a dark presence in the Jedi Temple – he could feel it. Why hadn't the other Jedi noticed it? Something was incredibly wrong.

Anakin turned to Mace Windu, who was looking at him cautiously.

"Something's wrong," Anakin said, his voice low.

Windu attempted to cloak his bewilderment, but Anakin could see that he was confused. "What's wrong?"

Anakin paused, his thoughts whirling as he tried to seek out the source of the darkness with his mind. Immediately, his mind was filled with the presence that belonged to only one person: Palpatine. Darth Sidious.

"You let him in here!" Anakin exclaimed.

"What?!"

"You let him in – he'll kill every last one of us!" Anakin was not aware that he had moved, but suddenly he was out in the corridor again, walking backwards at a rapid pace. "Don't you realize what you've done?"

"Anakin, calm down." Windu approached him, his hands raised. "I'll call the Jedi Healers and then we'll –"

"NO!" Anakin shouted. "There's nothing wrong with me, don't you understand? He's _here!_ You've let our worst enemy into the Jedi Temple!"

With that, he turned on his heel and fled up the corridor, running as far and fast as he could. Running, running, running – it seemed that it was all he was capable of. He couldn't think clearly. Palpatine was a Sith Lord. How did he get into the Jedi Temple without any of the Jedi noticing? How could he cloak such a vast, dark presence so that only he, _Anakin, _could sense him?

Anakin skidded to a stop. His heart was beating frantically.

Durron. That had to be the reason. That had to be how Palpatine had entered the Temple unnoticed. He had to have an ally in here – and the only person who could have possibly allied him or herself with Darth Sidious was the only person who did not belong here.

Durron.

Anakin changed directions and sprinted off towards Durron's quarters.

* * *

The vast emptiness of his prison weighed down on him. Never before had he known what it was to be truly alone – without any sense of time or space or of others. He was alone in the dark, cut off from everyone and everything.

But Kyp did not give in that easily. He forced himself to go on searching for a way of escape. Whatever Palpatine had done to him, he would fight it. He would find a way to thwart the Sith Lord's plans.

He had never given up before, and he was not planning on starting to now.

One of the things Kyp had discovered about being trapped in eternal darkness was how easily memories came back to him. At times, while he let his mind wander in search for an escape, he saw moments from his past with such vividness that he believed he was reliving them. Some of those memories he had thought he had lost forever.

He saw the days of his long-lost childhood, days that had been so distant that they seemed to belong to a different person. He saw his parents and his brother in snap-shots of moments before the Imperials had come, when he had lived a child's simple, blissful life. Soon these were replaced by memories of his years of slavery on Kessel, before Han Solo and Chewbacca had rescued him; his fall to the Dark side and his redemption, the long years of training, the Yuuzhan Vong war that had devastated the lives of everyone in the Galaxy…

"It is difficult, is it not, to ward off _old_ memories? Intrusive, yet you remain enthralled by them, helpless only to watch your past flow by your eyes. Or is it your future?"

The soft, lilting voice was instantly recognizable.

"What do you want?" Kyp's voice was cold, monotone, emotionless. He could not see through the darkness, but he could sense that the Sith Lord was somewhere close by.

Palpatine did not immediately answer.

"It was my Master who taught me this trick," he said quietly after a long moment. "A wise man, my Master. Highly intelligent. He had the most inquisitive nature. He was never satisfied with what he learned, there was always something more, something out of reach. He delved deeper and deeper into the very nature of the Force, searching for the answers to his questions. It was always 'What if, what if, what if…' He believed that nothing was impossible. He was perhaps the most well-learned man the Galaxy has ever seen."

"What happened to him?" Kyp asked softly. "I assume it can't be anything good, considering that you were his apprentice."

"I do not find your witticisms amusing, Master Durron," Palpatine said. His voice was calm, but there was a hint of irritation.

"Tough. Since I'm not going anywhere soon – you were saying?"

"I disposed of him in his sleep," Palpatine said.

"You mean you killed him," Kyp interrupted pointedly.

"Yes… and no."

"'And no?'" Kyp exclaimed. "What do you mean, 'yes and no?' How is it possible to kill and person and yet not kill them?"

There was a long silence. Kyp waited for a reply, his frustration rising. Palpatine did not seem to be inclined to given him an answer.

"Tell me, Master Durron," Palpatine said finally, "would it give you great pleasure if Jaina Solo joined you here?"

Several ideas snapped into place. "What do you mean?" Kyp demanded.

"It is an ever-changing Galaxy out there, Master Durron," the Sith Lord said calmly. "A great change has come to pass tonight –"

"No!"

"—and the Empire will rise. You do not approve of this?"

Kyp snorted. "Hell, no!"

"How… unfortunate. If you had but given even a faint suggestion of approval—"

"As if that would happen," Kyp growled to himself.

"—you may have had a chance to see _her_ again."

"You leave Jaina out of it!" Kyp shouted, but at the same time he felt great satisfaction – Jaina was still alive. No matter how much time had passed in the outside world, she was still alive and fighting. There was hope yet – maybe not for him, but for the Galaxy. For Anakin.

Though Kyp did not want to admit it – especially not to Palpatine – a small part of him doubted that he would ever be able to escape. After all, last time it had been Jaina who had been trapped, and even she had not been able to free herself. She had needed help.

_His_ help.

Jaina was the only person in this era who would know what had happened. But she was millions of light-years away. She could not help him now.

"If the thought of Solo fighting against me gives you hope," Palpatine hissed, "know that she won't last long. The Jedi Temple has seen its last night."

"Anakin won't stay on your side for long," Kyp countered. "Even in your future, he didn't. He turned back to the light side—"

Suddenly, there was a reverberating echo that sounded throughout the dark prison. An echo that was noticeably out of place. It was something that should not have existed in this void.

"Impossible!" Palpatine breathed. "What are you doing?" his voice snapped at Kyp. "How did you manage this?"

"I haven't done anything!" Kyp shouted back.

A faint light pierced the darkness, seeping through along what appeared to be a crack, dim at first, then brighter and brighter.

"The boy!" an outraged voice shouted, and then the sense of Palpatine's presence disappeared.

Kyp had not noticed; he was staring at the light in shock. Someone was breaking through – but who? How? Was it Jaina? Maybe she had returned from Shanthral and had finally found him. The thought of Jaina triggered something in his memory – what had she told him before she had left for Shanthral?

_Don't you go dying on me._

She had been reluctant to go. He had convinced her to leave. He was trapped, and now she was trying to rescue him. Who else would? No one knew the secret of the time travel, no one had experienced the mind prison, or whatever it was – Palpatine's trick. No one knew how to break through – except for himself and Jaina.

Suddenly, the darkness splintered, cracking like a broken mirror. The light bled through the cracks, causing Kyp to close his eyes because it was too bright.

Then, there was an explosion of light as it obliterated the darkness completely.

* * *

Kyp lay face-down on the floor of his room, panting. The light above was blinding, but he refused to close his eyes for any given amount of time.

He had escaped his prison. He was back.

And who knew how much time had passed since Palpatine had caught him?

Kyp rolled over and sat up, wincing at the painful, pounding ache in his head. His body felt drained of energy. He could not even begin to understand how he had slipped through the prison's walls and back into reality. Whatever he had done, he was free now.

"Jaina?"

"She's still on Shanthral," a familiar voice said. "And you've got a lot of explaining to do."

"Anakin Skywalker?!"

Kyp opened his eyes and looked up – there was no doubt about it. Anakin was standing, arms crossed, glaring down at him, his expression full of suspicion and distrust. Kyp slowly rose to his feet and glanced at Jaina's grandfather.

"Okay, that's just really weird," he murmured.

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "Weird? Would you mind telling me what just happened?"

Kyp frowned and pressed a hand to his forehead – his pounding headache was not dissipating quickly. "Would you mind telling me what you did?"

Anakin snorted. "As if I should tell you—"

"You should tell me because I need to know what the hell happened for you to get me out of Palpatine's prison!" Kyp snapped.

Anakin stepped backwards. _"Palpatine's?!"_ he exclaimed. He frowned. "You knew all along, didn't you?" he asked darkly.

"Knew what?" Kyp asked, exasperated.

"That Palpatine is a Sith Lord?"

Kyp froze. "How did you find out—?"

"He told me," Anakin said flatly. "He told me today. I know everything now, but what I can't understand is where _you_ fit into the picture."

Kyp rose to his feet. "Never mind that now, where is he?"

"Tell me what's going on!" Anakin yelled.

"Shut up and listen then!" Kyp shouted.

Anakin glared at him. "All right."

"Good." Kyp stared back at him; Anakin's suspicious expression had not faded. This was not going to be easy. "First off," Kyp began, "I am _not_ working for Palpatine, whatever you've convinced yourself to think."

Anakin barked a short laugh. "Of course, an ally of a Sith Lord would tell me that anyways."

"Palpatine had me imprisoned, Anakin," Kyp said flatly. "You somehow saved me from that."

"Me?" Anakin snorted. "What did I do? I traced Palpatine's presence to this room, came in and found you lying on the floor, and then all of a sudden Palpatine's presence was gone and you woke up—"

"Is that all you did?" Kyp frowned. Something was not making sense. When he had rescued Jaina, he had to search for her mind to draw her out – Anakin had somehow managed it just by stepping into the room.

"Yeah, that's all. You're not making any sense."

"No, I'm probably not," Kyp agreed, speaking rapidly. He was free from Palpatine's prison, but had hundreds of obstacles piled up in front of him, obstacles that had to be dealt with immediately. Anakin knew that Palpatine was a Sith Lord and judging from his current attitude, he was not about to trust anyone.

Something had to be done – immediately.

_Yoda,_ his mind thought. _Find Yoda._

Now was the time, if any, to let the Jedi Master know exactly where he had come from. Palpatine's tricks were unbeatable unless you knew what powers he was using. From what Kyp remembered, Yoda had dropped hints once – or twice – that he knew that time travel was possible. Kyp had to speak with him. Immediately.

"Look, Anakin," he said, "stay here. I need to find Yoda. Just… trust me, for once. Do me a favour and stay here, all right?"

"But—!"

Kyp left before Anakin could protest. He prayed that he would be able to find Yoda before Anakin did something impulsive.

* * *

Anakin watched as Durron disappeared down the corridor. Letting out a hiss of frustration and rage, Anakin threw himself down on a chair and rubbed a hand across his forehead. It seemed that the Force was working against him today. Judging from Mace Windu's reaction, the Jedi Masters thought that he was ill. Kyp Durron continued to be as cryptic as ever, and yet something was telling him that Durron was _not_ an ally of Palpatine's – just as he had said.

No one trusted Anakin. He was alone in the dark, without information. There was something going on, something much deeper and darker than he could have possibly believed.

And then there was his choice… a choice that he had made in the Chancellor's office, a choice that he was still wrestling with.

His choice to turn his back on the Chancellor and return to the Jedi.

It was a decision that had failed him. He had tried to tell Mace Windu about Palpatine, but he had failed. Now the Jedi Masters thought he was mad. He had nowhere to turn. He was the Chosen One, he should be believed! However, he was not. He was utterly alone. He had no friends, no allies to turn to.

_Chosen One…_ Palpatine had called him that. Palpatine, who was his friend. Palpatine, who was the Chancellor of the Republic. Palpatine, who was also Darth Sidious.

A Sith Lord.

Anakin wrestled with his choice.

He had turned away from the Chancellor and fled back to the safety of the Temple. He was a Jedi – he had found a threat. He should have dealt with that threat, but he had run away. _Why _had he done that?

_You're afraid,_ a voice within his told him. _You're afraid to do it yourself. You're afraid to admit that Palpatine is not your friend. You're afraid to betray him. _

Anakin closed his eyes. _No!_

_You're afraid to let go. _

_Shut up!_

_You'r__e afraid to follow your destiny!_

Anakin clenched his hands into fists.

Chosen One. The name rung in his ears again. What did it mean? He was the child of prophecy; he was the one who was destined to bring balance to the Force.

Palpatine was a Sith Lord.

Anakin was a Jedi Knight.

He knew what had to be done – and only he could do it. Not the Jedi Masters, not Mace Windu, not even Yoda… he, Anakin, had to do it.

But could he betray a mentor? Could he stab a friend in the back? Could he turn his back on the one man who had known him better than anyone else, the one man who had believed in him, trusted him when no one else would? Could he let go a decade of friendship, all for the sake of the Jedi Order?

_It's not about the Jedi Order,_ the voice whispered. _It has never been. _

He saw, in his mind's eye, Padmé's face. He heard her voice, calling his name. He recalled his nightmares with such stark reality it seemed as though he was _living_ in the moment where Padmé lay in the mud, slowly dying… And Palpatine, the Emperor –

Anakin stood up.

He made his second choice.

* * *

Kyp was only several corridors away from his rooms when his mind backtracked and he came to an abrupt halt. He had told Anakin to stay in his rooms, he had told him not to go anywhere – but when did Anakin _Skywalker_ listen to anybody? Anakin was not going to stay there. He was not even going to stay in the Temple. Darth Sidious had revealed himself to him, and Anakin was going to track him down. He was going to return to the Chancellor's office.

This was a turning point. Kyp could sense it. Either Anakin would join the Sith Lord, or he would refuse him. But Palpatine would not have revealed himself unless he knew that there was a chance Anakin would stay true to his friendship with him.

_Shavit!_

Kyp began running – running to find Anakin, before it was too late. He could forget Yoda for the moment – there was something much more important that was about to happen. There was no time to find any of the Jedi Masters. Anakin was going to find Palpatine, and there was no stopping him.

Thankfully, Anakin was not difficult to find as Kyp ran directly into him as soon as he turned the corner.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm coming with you," Kyp said.

Anakin snorted. "I didn't say I was going anywhere—"

"You're going to confront Palpatine," Kyp said. "I'm on your side, Anakin. I'm not a Jedi Master – I don't even follow this Order's rules. But I know about Sith Lords. I know Palpatine's strategies – I've fought him before. I'm coming with you."

Anakin stared at him, speechless. "If you knew he was a Sith Lord," he said quietly, "why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you have believed me?"

Anakin paused. He looked away, then down at the lightsaber he was clutching tightly in his right hand. "Let's go," he said.

* * *

Twilight had fallen on Coruscant. The sky was streaked with thick, red-grey clouds. The inky blackness of night was quickly approaching. Guided by his own intuition, Anakin wound his way through the night traffic, his speeder shrieking. It had begun to rain and visibility was low. Using the Force, Anakin dodged on-coming traffic as he risked swerving into the wrong lane in effort to move ahead of all the other beings jammed in the Galactic City, going about their daily lives.

Kyp had decided that Anakin was even more reckless a pilot than Jaina.

In order to force himself not to concentrate on Anakin's wild flying, Kyp had drawn his lightsaber and was examining it with a look of tight concentration. Neither of them had barely spoken a word since the two of them had left the Jedi Temple, but Kyp knew that Anakin felt the same thing he felt – the darkness growing in the Force. It was almost tangible. Even the weather seemed to be reflecting it as a loud _boom_ of thunder echoed across through the air.

They were racing towards what may be the greatest confrontation between the Dark side and the Light and Anakin was going to be at the centre of it all. Whatever happened at the Chancellor's office would dictate the future of the Galaxy. Thousands of lives depended on the outcome. They were rushing towards this climatic meeting and there was no way they could stop now. It was too late.

Suddenly, Anakin swore profusely as he almost hit another speeder and swerved away, jerking Kyp out of his thoughts.

"WOULD YOU WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING FOR ONCE?" Kyp bellowed, the wind tearing at his words. "I THOUGHT JAINA WAS BAD, BUT YOU'RE AT LEAST TEN TIMES WORSE!"

"YOU SOUND LIKE OBI-WAN!" was all Anakin had time to say.

The Senate Office Building was ahead. It was dark and solid, looming ahead like a mountain – all except one patch. The Chancellor's office was still illuminated. Palpatine was still there; but he wouldn't stay forever.

With time racing against him, Anakin pushed the speeder into its fastest gear. It flew through the air towards the Senate Office Building; just as it came level with the Chancellor's private office, Anakin pulled the speeder up on its side, skidding through the sudden turbulence to bring it to a halt on the landing platform outside.

Kyp swore loudly.

"Get out," Anakin said, releasing his straps and jumping out. He dashed towards the entrance, Kyp following. Rain poured from the sky, drenching them until they entered the quiet building. Anakin led the way up the long, richly furnished corridor towards the Chancellor's office. The door was closed, but it could easily be opened.

Kyp came to a stop. Every muscle in his body was tense. If Anakin succeeded… then the mission would have been successful. Kyp glanced at Jaina's grandfather. Anakin's expression was tense. He merely nodded and approached the door.

* * *

As the door slid open, the shadows of the two Jedi moved across the floor of the Chancellor's private office. Their lightsabers in their hands, Anakin and Durron approached Darth Sidious. He was sitting in the revolving chair behind his desk, his back to them. Behind the two Jedi, the door slid closed again.

"Chancellor Palpatine," Anakin called out.

Palpatine's revolving chair swung around. The Dark Lord of the Sith smiled.

"Why, Anakin," he said. "What a pleasant surprise." His eyes flickered across to Durron. "And—" He stopped abruptly, his eyes narrowing. "Pardon me – Master Durron, isn't it? A new Jedi to the Order, or so I have heard. To what honour do I owe this gracious visit? You're not usually accustomed to bringing friends along, Anakin."

"This isn't a surprise, Palpatine," Anakin said flatly. "And it's not pleasant either."

Palpatine raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry? I must have misunderstood. Did I not greet you properly? Surely, Anakin, we're friends. I do not need to address you as Knight Skywalker, do I?"

"We're not friends," Anakin said flatly. "And I cannot possibly imagine that we were ever friends, _Sidious. _Our friendship is at an end. I'm not here to greet the Chancellor of the Republic – I'm here to stop a Sith Lord. _You._"

"Me?" Palpatine's eyes widened. He chuckled. "Anakin, I've known you for such a long time, you are the last person I would have expected to hear such a wild accusation from. And even if it were true, it is hardly a crime. My philosophical outlook is a personal matter. In fact, we have very strict laws against this type of persecution, as I have explained to you before."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Anakin exclaimed, stepping forwards. "You told me yourself that you were a Sith Lord just today! I'm a Jedi – it is our _duty_ to fight the Sith."

"Anakin, stop!" Durron warned, placing a hand on his shoulder and drawing him back. "There's something going on here. He's playacting."

"No, he's being an idiot!" Anakin spat. "Let me go!"

"Anakin," Palpatine said, "listen to me. You are my friend. I have never done anything to harm you. Why do you persist with this nonsense? Stop me from doing what, may I ask? Do you mean arrest, by any chance? If so – what is my alleged crime? I truly thought better of you, Anakin. The Jedi have brainwashed you. I warned you about this. They have sent you here to imprison me without a trial. The Jedi are taking over the Republic."

"We're stopping you from _destroying_ the Republic!" Anakin shouted. "Enough of this!"

"Anakin, wait!"

Anakin barely even heard Durron's shout. He charged forwards, igniting his lightsaber. Palpatine's desk was in the way; he went to leap over it, but suddenly Palpatine was no longer behind his desk. Anakin spun around. He saw Palpatine raise a hand and clench his fist. Durron rose involuntarily into the air, struggling to take control of the Force and counteract Palpatine's command. But he couldn't beat it – his lightsaber fell from his grasp and he catapulted through the air and came down skidding along the floor, using his hands in an attempt to slow himself down. He smashed into the wall with a _thud_ and lay motionless on the floor. Anakin glanced around again and finally spotted Palpatine standing at the doorway, but the door did not open. In his hand, a lightsaber whose crimson blade cast a bloody glow across his face.

The door locked itself.

"Help! _Help!"_ Palpatine was screaming like a desperate man who had succumbed to fear. "Security – _someone! _Help me! _Murder! Treason!"_

Anakin stared at him, dumbfounded. Palpatine was acting like he was… insane. There was no other word for it. What was going on?

Then, to his great surprise, the Sith Lord smiled. Holding one finger to his lips, Palpatine winked and moved back across his office, driving his blade through his desktop.

"That's enough of _that,"_ he said, turning back to Anakin.

Anakin stared at him as realization dawned – the conversation had been recorded. It had been done in such a way to put him and Durron in a bad light. Anyone listening to the recording would think that _they_ were villains.

"You—!" Anakin stopped himself. He wasn't sure what to say.

Palpatine sighed. "I am very sad to have had it happen like this, Anakin. There were so many things I had planned for you. There were so many great things you could have done. But not as a Jedi. I see that the Jedi truly have had too much influence on you. You could have been great, Anakin, truly great. The greatest man who ever lived."

Anakin stared at him. "How… how did you know that I was coming back?"

Palpatine smiled. "If you wanted to keep it a secret, my boy, you should not have rescued your friend over there." He nodded in Durron's direction. The Jedi was slumped over, slowly coming to. "It was a test, don't you see? I was testing you, Anakin, your strength, your power – and your loyalty. You sensed me when no other Jedi could. That in itself is extraordinary, as I was inside the prison that I had entrapped _him_ in at the time. But you sensed me, traced me – and broke through the prison, releasing him. If you had wanted to stay at my side, you would not have done that. You would have shown me loyalty. I am very disappointed in you, Anakin."

"I…" Anakin choked. The way Palpatine was speaking tore painfully at his gut; it was if a father was quietly reprimanding a child for doing wrong. Anakin suddenly had a desire to apologize, say he was sorry… return to his friend. "I…"

"I am merciful, Anakin," Palpatine said. "You can still return to me. The Jedi are evil – they have brainwashed you into believing that the Sith are evil. But they are _not._ I have stressed this before. It is only a point of view. Join me and become my apprentice. Pledge yourself to the Sith."

Anakin stood still, frozen on the spot. Memories of his past flitted through his mind – the many days he had spent with Palpatine, the many discussions and conversations. Palpatine was a friend, wasn't he? Or had it all been a disguise?

He lowered his saber and deactivated it.

"No!" It was Durron's voice. The Jedi raised his head slowly. "Say no, Anakin! He's toying with you!"

"Anakin," Palpatine said, "do not listen to him. You need to learn to make your own choices."

Anakin glanced at Durron and then at Palpatine. He wet his lips. He could feel the Force's titanic roiling and bursting around him, waiting for his next decision. Memories of Padmé flickered through his mind, memories from what seemed like such a long time ago… and then, the horrifying memories of his dreams. Anakin glanced back at Palpatine, who was smiling serenely at him. He raised his hand as if to salute—

—and then he activated his lightsaber. The blue blade hummed to life, casting a bright glow across the room.

"No," he said. "I won't. I _can't._" He stepped towards Palpatine, his lightsaber raised offensively, his expression was tense now. Power surged through the room – whether it was from him or not, Anakin couldn't tell. He watched as Palpatine's smiling expression fell. "I am not a pawn in your game for power, Chancellor," Anakin said. "And I will never be. I know where my destiny lies. I have seen it in my dreams. Just as my dreams about my mother came true, so will these ones. If I let you live, you will bring about the destruction of all that I love. You'll destroy the Republic and create an Empire—"

"—Anakin—!"

"—and I _won't_ let you do that!" He was standing right in front of the Sith Lord now. "I _can't._ Not for any reason. The Jedi may be as evil as you say they are for all I know, but I _know_ that I have to stop you. And I will."

Palpatine stared at him for a moment, his upper lip curling into a sneer. His eyes flashed for a moment. Then the expression died.

"Anakin, you don't—"

The rest of his sentence was drowned away as Anakin brought his blue blade crashing down towards the Sith Lord and Palpatine was forced to respond. Blue blade met with red blade in a crackling clash of sparks.

Anakin pressed on firmly, his lightsaber slashing low and high in a quick series of thrusts and parries. Palpatine was being backed away by Anakin's steady, emotionless onslaught of blows, heading towards the window.

"Anakin, you don't have to do this," he hissed.

"I have to!" Anakin yelled, trying to propel his voice over the sound of crackling lightsabers.

"The Jedi have corrupted you!" Palpatine shouted angrily. "They _want_ you to kill me!"

"And you want me to join the Dark side!" Anakin yelled back. He thrust forwards viciously with his saber, cutting the edge of Palpatine's cloak. They were fighting near the window now. "I've had enough! From now on I'm going to do as my heart tells me. I'm going to make up my – own – mind!" He accented each of his last three words with furious jabs from his lightsaber. Palpatine ducked and parried just in time. Anakin's lightsaber collided with the window and shattered it. Shards of transparisteel fell away, showering the window ledge and tumbling towards the ground far below.

They were standing near the window ledge; it was a precarious situation. One wrong move could cause either of them to fall off the edge and plummet down hundreds of stories to their deaths.

"Anakin, I've never tried to dictate your actions!"

"LIAR!" Anakin shouted. "You and the Jedi both have tried to control me! You were just better at it! But now I know. I've _seen._ I know what you're going to do, and YOU'RE GOING TO HURT PADMÉ!"

He was fueled by anger now. Anakin pressed forwards, hardly watching his footing.

"Anakin, I would never hurt her!" Palpatine shouted through the crackling sound of their lightsabers. Thunder boomed.

"LIAR!" Anakin shouted.

"Anakin—"

"You lied!" Anakin spat. "_You lied to me! _Everything you said was a lie!"

"No, Anakin!" Palpatine's expression almost – but not quite – unreadable through the flurry of sparks that surrounded them. There seemed to be a certain amount of annoyance mixed with unexplainable _pity_ in his face. However, both emotions were clouded by the large amount of utter loathing that graced the Chancellor's expression. "The Jedi have twisted your thoughts away from my guidance! You've misinterpreted what I meant!"

"The Jedi don't control my _dreams,"_ Anakin hissed, raising his lightsaber even higher. "No one does!"

"There," he said, pointing with his lightsaber towards the post where Durron lay on the floor, still recovering from the impact of hitting the wall at high speed. "That _Jedi _there_._ What have I told you about him and Solo? They have managed to corrupt your thoughts and turn you against me! It was there plan all along – can't you see that, Anakin? _They_ are your enemy; that _man_ there is your enemy!"

Anakin glanced in Durron's direction, his face stony.

"He isn't the one who has been hiding his true identity from me for more than a decade," he said, his voice hollow as their sabers connected, hissing and spitting sparks.

Palpatine barked a short laugh. "What has that to do with anything? Does it truly matter than I am a Sith Lord? Should a simple matter of _perspective_ destroy our friendship? _He's_ the enemy here, Anakin! Kill him before he destroys everything you hold dear!"

"He hasn't done anything to me. I barely know him." Anakin disengaged his lightsaber and took a step backwards, his face contorted with pain. He lowered his blade. Wind howled in his ears and rain blew in through the broken window. "You… you are different. I trusted you – and you've betrayed _me._ I've seen it and I should have seen it years ago. Everything you've been doing in the Senate… you're going to destroy this Galaxy! And worse…. _you_ are going to kill Padmé." His voice was barely audible.

"Ah…" the Chancellor's voice was no more than a hiss. "Of course." Palpatine lowered his own saber, his expression cool. "If you kill me," he said slowly, "there will no one with the power and the _knowledge _to save her. Even you cannot prevent death."

"Why should I trust you?" Anakin roared, anger now the predominant emotion. "You lied! There's _nothing_ I can do to save her! All I can do now is to stop _you_ before you kill her yourself!" He raised his saber again and slashed down vehemently, but the force of the blow caused him to slip on pieces of broken transparisteel and he slipped, falling down. Anakin winced as he felt the shards cut into his hands and arms. His head hit the ground with a sickening _thud_ and his vision blurred. With a hiss, Palpatine knocked the lightsaber from Anakin's grasp and thrust his own lightsaber under the defenseless Jedi's chin.

"You foolish boy," he said. "You could have done so much, Anakin, but even the greatest fall prey to foolishness."

"So kill me," Anakin snapped. "If I'm such an idiot, _kill _me!"

Palpatine drew back his lightsaber – and gave a horrific yell as he fell forwards, his legs giving out from under him. Durron – one bleeding hand pressed firmly against his side, his face contorted with pain – had lodged a kick at the Sith Lord, sending him sprawling face-first into the shards of transparisteel littering the window ledge and surrounding area. Igniting his crimson lightsaber, he swung towards the Sith Lord's unprotected body when Palpatine flipped himself around and parried Durron's blow. Light from their blades illuminated them, casting them in a bloody glow.

"You can't win, Sidious!" Durron shouted.

"Can I not?" Palpatine sneered. "I _will_ have dominion over this Galaxy—"

"One man cannot rule thousands of worlds alone!" Durron yelled. "You're without allies!"

"I have control of the Senate!" Palpatine shouted. "I AM the Senate! They will obey me!"

"But not for long!" Durron countered, ducking a blow aimed at his head. He parried and the lightsabers were locked together in a fiery X. The Jedi and the Sith were so close together they were almost spitting in each other's faces as they spoke.

"I have unlimited power!" Palpatine yelled.

"Power _never_ lasts!" Durron shouted. "Can't you understand that? Everything withers and dies – everything has its place. Even _you_ didn't win – Vader saw to that."

From his place on the floor, Anakin slowly tried to rise, wincing from the pain in his arms and hands from the pieces of broken transparisteel lodged in his skin. Evidently this conversation was reflecting on the time when Durron had fought Palpatine before. Anakin's mind settled on one thing: Vader. Who was Vader?

"Then why are you here, Master Durron?" Palpatine hissed, releasing his lightsaber and causing Durron to stumble backwards against the wall. "Clearly you are here to stop me – so, therefore, I won."

Thunder boomed. In the light of the red lightsabers, Anakin saw that Durron's expression had frozen. He had no counterargument for Palpatine's comment. But what did they mean?

"I will always win," Palpatine continued, thrusting forwards with his lightsaber and causing Durron to be backed up against the wall. He was cornered – the only way out would be to jump through the broken window. "I will always win." Palpatine stepped forwards and aimed a blow at the Jedi, who barely managed to parry it in the confined space.

"You will have to deal with me first," Anakin said sharply, gripping the edge of Palpatine's desk for support as his head swam. He raised his hand, searched for his lightsaber with his mind and called it into his hand with the Force. As soon as he felt the familiar metal handle in the palm of his hand, he ignited the blade and launched himself towards the Chancellor of the Republic. Palpatine's irate face was illuminated in a blue glow for a moment and then, suddenly, he stepped sideways and leapt over the ledge, falling out of sight.

Anakin rushed forwards the ledge, staring at the moving traffic below. He deactivated his lightsaber.

"Anakin?"

He glanced at Durron, who was leaning against the wall for support, looking winded. The skin on his palms was torn and bleeding; his hands had left smudges of blood on his shirt. Anakin glanced back at the traffic below, his face contorted into a pained expression. His eyes were tingling, the feeling he knew came before tears. He clenched his fists.

"He was my best friend," he said finally, his voice hollow. "He was going to hurt Padmé. I couldn't let him."

"I understand," Durron said quietly.

Anakin's eyes flashed dangerously. _"You?"_ he said, laughing bitterly. What did Durron know about love and the things one did to protect it? "You? How could you understand? No Jedi possibly could. There are things about me that you could hardly even begin to _understand." _He spat the last word like it was an oath.

Durron folded his arms. "You'd be surprised how much I understand, Skywalker," he said harshly. "After all, there are things from my past that _you_ wouldn't even begin to believe, let alone understand. I've seen much more of this world than you have, Skywalker. I've witnessed good and evil and all the murky grey areas in between, so don't _you_ lecture _me."_

Anakin's nostrils flared; he was about to retort when he stopped himself. It was true – he really didn't know much about Durron at all. Who was he to assume what another person knew? Durron wasn't an ordinary Jedi – if he was a Jedi at all.

"All right," Anakin finally managed to say. "So, what happens now?"

"We need to get back to the Temple," Durron answered. "We have to tell the rest of the Masters what happened – and to warn them that Sidious is on the loose."

Anakin laughed hollowly. "The Chancellor's dead."

Durron sighed exasperatedly. "Anakin, do you honestly _think_ that Palpatine would have jumped if he didn't have a way to save his own wretched life?" he snapped. "This isn't over yet. We've got a long way to go."

"What do you mean he's _alive?"_ Anakin said irately. "He jumped! You saw it!"

Durron passed a hand across his face. "All right… Palpatine can… well, he has ways of saving himself. Believe me, until we see a body, he's _not_ dead. But, trust me, he's not very happy at the tonight's outcome and he's going to do everything in his power to wreck havoc on the Jedi. We _have_ to get back to the Temple."

"All right," Anakin said and followed Durron towards the exit.

Outside, lightning flashed and thunder roared.

* * *

In the darkness, the Dark Lord of the Sith seethed with anger.

He had failed.

His would-be greatest asset had betrayed him for some foolish idea he called love. His future apprentice had turned on him in the name of a _woman._ A simple-minded, foolish _woman._

They would pay for that in due course. They would pay so heavily for _his_ mistakes.

However, first the shadow would strike down those who opposed him. He was far from being defeated. In fact, he was closer than ever to victory. He could taste it on his tongue, he could smell it in the air. The only drawback was that he wouldn't have his right-hand man at his side when he ascended the throne of his Empire.

Now, there were only two things he needed to do. The second – addressing the Senate – he would need to prepare for. But the first…

The first was his revenge.

Sidious stared into the hologram at the clone troopers who were awaiting his command.

Yes… he would have his revenge. Starting tonight, the Jedi would soon be extinct and he would have the power.

"Execute Order Sixty-Six."


	29. Massacre

**CHAPTER XXIX**

**Massacre**

Kyp let Anakin fly the speeder; the young man was angry and confused, and Kyp knew that flying was one of his escapes. If he flew long enough, perhaps some of his anger would dissipate and he would be more tolerable. Kyp also knew that as good a pilot as he thought he was, Anakin's skill was by far superior and would return them to the Jedi Temple much faster than Kyp ever could. Furthermore, though Kyp did not want to admit it, he was tired and his energy was spent after escaping a time prison and being thrown by the Force half-way across a room.

As the Coruscanti traffic zoom by in the opposite direction while Anakin flew at top speed, Kyp examined his hands. His palms were stinging, the skin torn and bloodied by the impact of sailing across the floor of Palpatine's office. Besides that, he suspected that he had gained several sizeable bruises. Though the wounds were fairly ugly, it was nothing unmanageable.

Suddenly, the speeder tipped to the side as Anakin steered it abruptly around a corner.

"Anakin!" Kyp shouted.

"I know, _I know,"_ Anakin growled through gritted teeth. _"Sorry." _He straightened the speeder. "What are we going to say to the Jedi Council anyways?" he said after a moment's pause. "That Sidious is running around in the underlevels of the city?"

"I doubt he's in the under city," Kyp growled. "He's resourceful. He's probably already organizing a retaliation of some kind. He did tell me that tonight was the Jedi's last night, or something to that extent. I think he means it."

"What?" Anakin demanded abruptly, having not listened to Kyp's comment.

"I said that Sidious is probably already organizing a retalia—_what the hell?!"_

It seemed as though Sidious had struck before they could even prepare to defend themselves. Kyp and Anakin stared in horror at the Jedi Temple as Anakin steered the speeder towards their home. They could see hundreds upon hundreds of clone troopers marching, in formation, into the Temple. Smoke was rising from the lower levels.

"Oh, no," Anakin breathed.

"But the Jedi were ready, weren't they?" Kyp demanded. "They've got to have been prepared on some level!"

"I… don't know," Anakin murmured. "Even if they did, the clones are our allies."

"I never trusted them," Kyp grunted. "Palpatine is going to turn them into stormtroopers."

"What?" Anakin said. "What are stormtroopers? Did Palpatine tell you that?"

"Erm… yeah." The last comment had been meant for himself; Kyp hadn't intended on Anakin overhearing it.

"I don't think we'd have been expecting an attack – especially not on _this_ level," Anakin continued angrily as he urged the speeder forwards. "Sithspit… there are hundreds – thousands – of clones down there!"

He swooped the speeder downwards, only to swerve upwards again as it was shot at. The speeder rocked as Anakin piloted it out of range.

"Shavit, Anakin, watch what you're doing!" Kyp yelled.

"I'm trying!" Anakin glanced down at the clones entering the Temple. "We'll go around the back," he said. "We have to help."

"Anakin, the clones know we're here, they'll have the landing pads guarded—"

"I don't care!" Anakin shouted.

Kyp gave up arguing at that point.

Anakin landed the speeder on the landing pad the farthest away from the entrance. Thankfully, it seemed as though the clones hadn't reach it yet. He jumped out of the speeder and ran towards the entrance at top speed, Kyp following. The doors were locked.

"Sithspit!" Anakin swore. "They've locked down the entire building."

"There has to be another way in—"

"I can hotwire the lock, just _wait."_

_I'd love to see the moment when Anakin Skywalker meets Han Solo,_ Kyp thought exasperatedly as he watched Anakin slice through the lock's exterior and begin fiddling with the wires. Kyp was considering looking for another way in when Anakin touched two wires together and gave a triumphant yell – the doors slid open.

Only to reveal the clone troopers on the other side.

"Duck!" Anakin yelled as the clones opened fire.

There was only half a dozen of them – battered, wounded, their armour charred no doubt from the initial assault – but they gave the two Jedi enough trouble. Kyp lost sight of Anakin in the barrage of blaster fire that threatened to engulf them. In a flurry of moves, he bounced the blaster bolts off his lightsaber back at the clones. After several intense minutes, their six attackers lay dead.

Anakin wiped the sweat off his brow. "Let's go," he said and ducked into the Temple.

What they found horrified them both. The Jedi Temple echoed with the sound of blasters. In the lower levels, fires had been set. Thick smoke clogged passageways, impairing vision and making it difficult to breathe. The clone troopers marched through every level, killing as they went. The further Kyp and Anakin went into the Temple, the higher the levels on carnage.

Anakin's expression was one of fury mixed with horror. "I can't believe it," he said as they emerged into a hall that was normally once so bright and full of life. Now it was filled with the dead – Jedi caught by unrelenting barrages of blaster fire. "I know all of them. All their faces, their names. How could he do this?"

There was no need to ask who "he" was.

"ANAKIN!"

Anakin spun and tripped over a piece of stone that had broken off of a nearby wall – one of many. The trip saved his life. As he fell, a blaster bolt shot towards him, missing his head by a mere fraction of a second. It hit the wall behind him, cracking it upon impact.

"ANAKIN!"

"That's Mace Windu," Anakin said. "But where is he?"

It was almost impossible to see through the smoke. To make matters worse, the dual sounds of blaster fire and clone troopers' marching were getting closer. Then, out of the dense smoke, came a limping Jedi Master, bloodied and wounded: Mace Windu.

"Master Windu!" Anakin rushed towards him and caught his arm, managing to steady him before the Jedi Master fell over.

"They came out of nowhere, Anakin," Mace Windu said. There was a large gash on his forehead. "There was no warning. We weren't prepared."

"What about the other Masters?" Anakin asked.

"They're still fighting – below," Windu told him. "They're trying to hold them off, but there's too many of them. I have to get to the Council Chambers – the younglings are there. They're hiding, but they're defenseless. The clones will find and kill them."

"I'll go," Anakin promised. "I'll get them out safely."

"Anakin," Kyp said, "the clones are getting closer. We have to get him out of here."

"No, I can stand!" With great effort, Windu pulled himself upright. He turned to Kyp and he noticed for the first time that Windu's face was severely bruised, as if he had been engaged in a fistfight. He clutched his lightsaber in a battered hand. "I'll hold them off here. I need to make sure that someone gets the younglings out of the Temple. Anakin, Kyp – please, get them out."

"We will," Anakin said.

"Go, then!" Windu said. "Go – now. Before the clones arrive. And may the Force be with you."

"You too, Master," Anakin said. He motioned at Kyp and the two of them ran down the corridor, Anakin leading the way.

"He's going to die down there," Kyp said. "He should have come with us."

"It's what he wants," Anakin snapped. "There's nothing more we can do."

Anakin ran on ahead without speaking any further. Kyp knew that he was angry at himself. In a way, the massacre brought on the Jedi Temple was his fault, and evidently he was blaming himself for the deaths he had seen.

"Anakin, it's not your fault!" Kyp called as they ran. "Even if you had joined with Palpatine, he still would have sent the clones to attack!"

"How do you know that?" Anakin spat. "This is my fault! I have to try to fix it. If I hadn't fought him… if I had just done what he wanted, they wouldn't be dying!"

Kyp knew that there was no reasoning with him. There would be no point on trying to tell him that if he had joined with Palpatine, the Jedi still would have died. The only good thing about the situation right now was that Anakin had not turned to the Dark side.

They managed to make quite a distance without coming across any clones – only smoke and the sound of hundreds of marching feet. They were near the Council Chambers when they ran into a wide hallway that the clones had already passed through. The transparisteel in the windows had been shattered, smoke was blowing down the corridor and it was littered with bodies.

Anakin came to an abrupt stop.

"Anakin, we need to find the younglings."

Anakin motioned for Kyp to be silent. He was staring at the body of a young human Padawan, a strange expression on his face.

"Anakin," Kyp urged, "I'm sorry, but we can't stay here. We'll die if the clones come back. We need to find the younglings and _get out of here."_

"Wait."

Kyp watched as Anakin rushed forwards to the body of the Padawan he had been staring at. He gently turned her over. Her forehead was bruised and there was a gash running through her left eyebrow. The blood on her right arm indicated the spot where she had received a blaster wound. Anakin put two fingers on the side of the red-haired girl's neck, frowning. Then he breathed a sigh of relief.

"She's alive," he said. He glanced at Kyp. "Come on, help me with her. We don't have much time."

"Anakin—"

"Just do it!" Anakin shouted.

Kyp hurried over and helped Anakin support the girl. They put one of her arms around Kyp's shoulders and the other around Anakin's and began walking down the hall. The girl's head hung down, her chin bouncing slightly on her chest as they walked.

"Anakin," Kyp grunted, "we don't have time for this—"

"Shut up!" Anakin snapped. "Listen – I'm only going to say this once. I don't know who the hell you are or where the hell you come from, but I don't care _what _sort of rules you live by. You might be accustomed to leaving the wounded to die, but I _know_ her. I'm not leaving her to die in this place. Would you condemn an innocent girl to death?"

"I didn't–"

"Anakin?" the girl murmured.

They stopped walking and stared at the girl suspended between them.

"Scout?" Anakin asked gently.

The girl opened her eyes; she looked dazed. Her brow furrowed. "Anakin…why are the clones invading? I thought they were on our side."

"Don't worry about that, Scout," Anakin told her quickly. "Can you walk?"

"Uh-huh," she murmured.

"Okay. Then you're going to have to keep up with us."

Anakin and Kyp let the girl go. She collapsed once they released their support, but she struggled to her feet, determined to stand on her own.

Anakin glanced at Kyp.

"I'll go," he said. "You get her out."

Anakin nodded. "I'll try to round up as many Jedi as I can. Get the younglings and meet me at the spot we came in. We'll figure out what to do after that."

"Right."

Kyp turned to leave, but Anakin called out to him.

"Durron!"

"What?"

"Take this." Anakin reached inside his robes and tossed a comlink to him. "In case you need to contact me. May the Force be with you."

"You, too."

The Jedi Temple was a disaster. As Kyp ran down the corridors and up stairways towards the Council Chamber, everywhere he went was filled with the smell of smoke and the stench of the dead and dying. He could hear the clattering of clone troopers on every level, their voices as they looked for Jedi, the sounds of their boots hitting the floor in unison.

Kyp didn't have any trouble evading them – until he turned the last corner and came face to face with a whole troop of them.

He shouted in surprise and skidded to a halt, backtracking as fast a possible. He ducked around the corner just in time – blaster bolts went flying towards the spot where he had just been standing.

_Great,_ he thought. _They're between me and the younglings._

There was only one thing he could do.

Kyp unclipped his lightsaber, wincing as his hand, its palm torn and bloodied from the incident in Palpatine's office where he had skidded along the floor, closed around the hilt. He ignited the blade, took a breath and ducked back around the corner.

Fighting clones was unlike fighting the droids he had previously faced. The clones, unlike the droids, had human minds. It was much like the battles he had faced in his past; nothing unordinary, except there were _so_ many of them.

Kyp ducked and turned, dodging blaster bolts, deflecting others, cutting down clone troopers as he moved through their ranks. His lightsaber was a merely flash of colour, illuminating the otherwise dark hallway.

He felt the sting of a blaster bolt and cried out as much in pain as in shock; he looked down and saw that his right shoulder was bleeding freely. Gritting his teeth, Kyp ignored the pain and swiped his lightsaber at the clone trooper who had shot him.

After several minutes, there were no more clone troopers. Kyp continued to run.

When he arrived at the Council Chambers, he found the door was locked. Kyp swore – he didn't know the access code. Closing his eyes, he reached out to the Force and searched the Council Chamber to make sure the younglings were in there.

They were – he could feel their presences. There were about ten and they were shivering with fear.

_All right, time to get this door open. _

There wasn't time to try to hotwire the lock. Kyp was just about to plunge his lightsaber into the door and cut a way through when he remembered the comlink that Anakin had given him. Cursing his stupidity, he activated it and raised it to his mouth.

"Anakin!"

He heard the sound of blaster fire.

"What? I'm kind of busy right now!"

"What's the access code for the Council Chamber?"

Anakin didn't answer. Kyp heard several screams and more blaster shots.

"What? I didn't copy!"

Kyp repeated the question.

"Oh! Access codes!" Anakin swiftly told him what they were and then said, "You better hurry, I can't hold out much longer, it's just Scout and – ARGH!"

He screamed and the comlink went dead.

_Kriff!_

* * *

The blaster bolt grazed Anakin's leg as it flew by; he shouted from pain as he lost his balance. The comm dropped out of his hand while he stumbled forwards; his foot came down on it, crushing it. Anakin swore loudly and raised his lightsaber to deflect another bolt as he drew on the Force to sustain him.

"Anakin!"

Scout twirled around, deflecting several bolts with her blade as she worked her way towards him, dodging the barrage of red light shooting through the smoky chamber. They were in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. No longer was it peaceful or tranquil, its gardens destroyed, its air polluted by smoke. The deep green foliage was burning and the room stank of death.

Anakin and Scout had found themselves there after scouring the levels for Jedi, but all they found was carnage. Anakin could still feel his comrades fighting, but their presence felt weak and was dwindling. He had come to the Room of a Thousand Fountains because it was one of the largest rooms in the Jedi Temple – there had to be some Jedi there, fighting for their lives. His assumption was correct, but they had come moments too late. The clones had already set its greenery on fire and were slowly forcing the Jedi out from under the cover of the trees and plants. The smoke had become dense and it was difficult to breathe and see. They had to get out of there.

But not without the Jedi.

There were still a few fighting, but their numbers were falling. Anakin and Scout had been near the entrance, making a run towards the other Jedi with blaster bolts in tow when Kyp had contacted him. The moments distraction was all it taken to prevent Anakin from reaching the Jedi in time; he saw them fall even as he had rushed to help them.

_Why are we losing?_ Anakin wondered. _How is this even possible? _

The fact that the Jedi were slowly losing to the clones seemed nonsensical; the Jedi were better trained, better armed, they had tactics available that the clones could only dream of. But then, the clones had had the element of surprise – and they had numbers. The sheer force of them astonished Anakin; they were everywhere in the Temple, thousands of them. Much more than one legion. The plain truth was that there simply were not enough Jedi to defend the Temple. With many still off-world on missions to clear up the last remnants of the war, a full-scale attack by the clone troopers was evidently enough to decimate them.

"Anakin!" Scout yelled.

He turned, fighting his way through the smoke to the end of the room. They ducked out the exit into the hallway, where the air was cleaner, running backwards as they kept their guards up. They rounded a corner, panting from exhaustion, and found it empty. Glancing back once to make sure the clones were still safely behind, Anakin turned and sprinted up the hallway. Several corridors away, he and Scout finally came to a rest. Scout dropped to her knees.

"I… can't do this anymore," she panted. "I… can't…"

"You _can,"_ Anakin answered firmly. "You have to. I'm not having you die, too."

"We can't save them, Anakin." Scout's eyes were filled with unshed tears as she spoke. She wiped her eyes with the back of her palm, smudging ash across her forehead as she did so. "They're all dead…" She glanced around the corridor, her eyes flickering across the motionless bodies of their fellows.

Anakin clenched his fists. "Come on," he said, his voice like durasteel. "We need to go."

They began walking again, keeping a fast pace without breaking into a run. Anakin's energy was severely depleted and Scout looked as though she was about to fall over.

"Anakin…"

He stopped abruptly. Spinning around, Anakin dropped to his knees next to the body that he thought he heard speak. Immediately, he recognized him.

"Master Tiin?"

Saesee Tiin's eyes were closed as he spoke. "Get her… out of here," he whispered. "Warn the others off-world. We've done… all we can…" His voice faded away.

"No!" Anakin slammed his fist into the floor. "No, I'm not going to leave you. You're injured; I can get you out of here—"

There was a faint laugh and then Anakin heard the Jedi Master's voice in his mind.

_I would only slow you down, _Saesee's voice said. _Get out, Anakin. You need to survive to find the others. I believe there are some Padawans who made it out alive; I was fighting to protect their escape. Whether they made it or not, I do not know but Cin Drallig was leading them. Find him, Anakin. _

"Master Tiin, you have to come with us—"

_I'm dying, Anakin. I have done my part. Now you must do yours. Get out before you fall. Even the greatest swordsmaster makes mistakes. There are too many of them. _

"But—" Anakin stopped talking. There were the sounds of marching coming nearer and nearer. Anakin glanced at Scout. She was trying her hardest to mask her panic, but she couldn't manage it.

_Go now._

"I—"

_Go!_

Anakin nodded. "May the Force be with you," he murmured.

_And you._

Anakin stood up. "Scout!" he called as he began to sprint up the corridor. "Let's run."

* * *

Time was running out. Swearing under his breath, Kyp hurriedly punched the code Anakin had given him into the pad and the Council Chamber doors slid open. Kyp ran into the room, looking around for any signs of the younglings.

The children were hiding behind the Jedi Masters' chairs; they poked their heads around the backs of the chairs, half curious, half afraid.

"It's all right," Kyp told them. "You're safe now."

One little boy who couldn't have been more than six years old cautiously approached Kyp. "But what are we to do?" he asked, his voice high-pitched with fright. "There's too many of them!"

"I'll deal with them," Kyp said. "But the important thing now is to get all of you to safety. Anakin Skywalker is somewhere below; he's working on a way out. Yoda's here, too." _And I kriffing hope that neither of them got kriffing killed on me,_ Kyp added to himself.

"Now," he continued, "this is going to be very difficult, but we _are_ going to get out of here. Just stick close to me and I'll protect you."

"And me!" a boy's voice interrupted.

Kyp glanced up and for the first time saw that a Padawan had been hiding with the younglings. He was a little worse for wear, with smudges of ash on his cheeks and several bruises, but he held his lightsaber tightly in his grip and his expression was determined.

"What's your name?" Kyp asked.

"Whie Malreaux," the boy answered. "My master was Maks Leem. The clone troopers killed him. He ordered me to protect the younglings."

"All right," Kyp said. "You can help me. Now, let's go and keep your eyes and ears open. When I tell you to run, run. When I tell you to walk, walk. Got it?"

There was a collective murmur of "yes."

"Then let's go."

Kyp led the younglings out of the Council Chamber, herding them between himself and Whie Malreaux. The children clung to each other, holding hands, their faces white with terror. Kyp wished that he didn't have to bring them past all the carnage that he had left outside in the hall, but it couldn't be helped.

They worked their way cautiously down through the Jedi Temple. All around them, blasters rang and explosions went off. Smoke curled its way down the halls; frequently they had to take detours down side halls because Kyp heard approaching clone troopers. The children were all alert, flinching at every sound.

They were about halfway back to where Kyp said that he would meet Anakin when they ran into trouble. Kyp had led the group down a side hall – and now they were surrounded by clones and had a troop marching directly towards them.

He didn't have enough time to think of a fool-proof plan that would get them out alive. He would have to improvise.

"Okay," he whispered, turning to the younglings and crouching down. They all stared at him, there eyes wide and their expressions attentive. "There's some clones coming towards us, so were going to have to move. The problem is that there are clones in the hall that we have to cross to get to safety. I'm going to go out there and distract them. Whie, take them in groups of three across the hall. Use your lightsaber to deflect any ricocheting blaster bolts, I don't want any of you getting hit. It's going to get pretty messy out there." He glanced at Whie; the Padawan was pale, but he nodded all the same.

"Don't make a sound," Kyp said. He turned his back on them, gripped his lightsaber tightly and activated it. Then he straightened and dove around the corner.

The clone troopers had their backs to him, so they didn't see him at first. Kyp glanced behind him and saw Whie ushering the first group of younglings across the hall into the next sub hall.

_All right. Time to improvise. _

He took off at a run and jumped at the nearest clone trooper, plunging his lightsaber through the clone's back. That immediately got their attention and soon Kyp was enveloped in what looked similar to a lightshow. His crimson lightsaber flashed as he whirled and swiped, parrying the blaster bolts and taking down his enemies, letting the Force guide his weapon. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Whie make it across the hall and then run back to get the next set of younglings.

Kyp wasn't sure how he survived being in the middle of a barrage of blaster bolts; he had seen many Jedi fall under the same circumstances. His lightsaber flashed, battering back the bolts, usually hitting the clone that had fired at him. There were just so many of them and he was quickly becoming tired. His wounded shoulder ached.

"ARGH!"

Kyp shouted with pain; a stray bolt had hit him in the leg. He collapsed on the ground as his leg gave out – and he found himself staring down the muzzles of at least a dozen blasters.

He raised his lightsaber.

"Harm him, you will not!" a familiar voice shouted.

Kyp glanced up and relief washed over him as he saw Yoda standing several yards down the hall, his activated green lightsaber in one hand and his gimer stick in the other. He was leaning heavily on it; clearly, he had been wounded at some point in the battle.

The clones seemed undivided as to which Jedi to kill first; half turned their blasters towards Yoda, the other half kept their weapons pointed at Kyp. This division of forces allowed Kyp enough free space to deflect the blaster bolts and maneuver his way out of danger. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yoda easily parrying any blaster fire send in his direction.

Soon enough, the clones were wiped out.

"Thank you, Master Yoda," Kyp said, taking a deep breath and trying not to put too much weight on his wounded leg.

"Safe, the younglings are?" Yoda inquired.

Kyp nodded. "Whie Malreaux has been protecting them."

"Good," Yoda said. "Hurry, we must. Fallen, the Temple has. Many Masters and many Knights have are dead. Die we all shall if stay we do. A way out, I know of. Reach the lower levels of the Temple, we must. Find us, Jedi Skywalker will."

"You know where Anakin is?"

Yoda nodded. "Yes. Fighting off clones, he and the girl Scout are."

Kyp breathed a sigh of relief. Anakin was alive.

"Hurry!"

With the Temple overrun by clones, navigating its familiar corridors became a dangerous prospect, especially with ten younglings in tow. Kyp was slower than he had been; he limped as he walked, wincing with every movement. A sharp pain was beginning to form in his shoulder and his leg ached where the blaster bolt had hit him. His clothes were already soaked with blood.

They did not stop to engage every clone that was in their way. They did not have the strength; instead, they sneaked around the Temple, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. Eventually, they came to the place on the ground level where Yoda said he knew a way out. It was a small, narrow corridor built for maintenance purposes. Looking at it, Kyp had doubts that even _he_ would be able to go through it as it had been built for droids, but the children and Yoda would have no trouble.

They had just arrived when Anakin and Scout came sprinting around the corner and down the corridor towards them. Both of them were limping; Scout was holding on to Anakin's hand as if she was afriad to let go. Her eyes were wild. Anakin himself was fairly beat up. He had gained several gashes and bruises and his right ear was bleeding profusely. Both he and Scout had thick layers of ash clinging to their hair. There was no one else with them.

"Is that all?" Anakin panted as he came to a stop. He was looking at the younglings.

Kyp nodded. "All I could find."

Anakin turned to Yoda. "Master Yoda… Master Tiin has died fighting trying to cover the escape of Master Cin Drallig and several Padawans. He told us before he... Scout and I found him on our way here."

Yoda lowered his head. "Lost, many lives have been today. But the time for grief, this is not. Leave the Temple, we must."

Yoda was about to speak to the younglings when there was a slight interruption.

"Whie?"

"Scout?"

Kyp stared in amazement as Whie and Scout ran – or, rather, limped quickly – towards each other and embraced each other tightly.

"I thought you'd died!" Whie exclaimed.

"Anakin saved me," Scout said, blinking away tears. "He found me. I thought that I would never see you again."

"The reunion can wait," Anakin interrupted. "Let's go, we don't have a lot of time."

One by one, they ducked into the tiny maintenance corridor and slithered their way through it. It seemed to go on forever and Kyp didn't know where it would come out. They could only hope that wherever they ended up, they would be safe enough – for the time being.

It was dark in the maintenance corridor. There was little time for talking as everyone was concentrating on moving forwards. Most had sustained injuries here and there so there were several people with limps, which slowed the entire group down. Finally, they emerged into an alley somewhere close to the Temple. It ran along the side of a building, before dipping deep into the complex tangle of buildings.

It was dark as it couldn't be more than halfway through the night. Traffic zoomed overhead, oblivious to the fact that several Jedi refugees were hiding below.

"They'll be searching the surrounding area for us," Anakin said. "It's the most logical thing for them to do. We've got to keep moving."

"Where do you propose we go?" Kyp asked. "I don't think very many people will be wanting to harbour Jedi from now on."

Anakin's eyes went flat. "I'll think of something," he said.

"Spread out and check all areas! Find them!"

Scout suppressed a gasp. "Clones!" she breathed.

Anakin wet his lips. "Let's go," he said. He was just beginning to lead them down the alley when bright lights flared in their eyes and they heard the voices.

"There they are! After them!"

"RUN!"

They ran.


	30. Darth Sidious Triumphant

**CHAPTER XXX**

**Darth Sidious Triumphant**

Kyp's legs were about to give out, but he willed them to continue to support his weight as he, Anakin, Yoda and the younglings and Padawans fled down the alleyways of Coruscant, chased by clone troopers.

"I don't know where to go," Anakin panted as they ushered the children along in front of them. "I can't find a way out."

"There _is_ no way out on Coruscant," Kyp said. "We need to get off-planet, not continue running around the alleys."

"If I could just get a minute to myself," Anakin said, "I could contact Padmé… I mean, Senator Amidala. Or Bail Organa; I'm positive Senator Organa has a ship that would be sufficient to get all of us off-planet. But I can't contact either of them with the clones chasing us."

"We're going to be trapped soon," Kyp said. "They know we're here; they'll be closing in on us."

Anakin's nostrils flared. "Great."

"They went down here!"

"They went this way!"

"Check down that alley!"

"Coming, they are," Yoda said. "Move, we must."

"What are we going to do?" Scout exclaimed, her worried face pale in the dim light.

"Okay, "Anakin said. "Master Yoda – take the lead. Scout and Whie, you go with him. Durron and I will stay at the back to ward them off if they get too close." He shot a look at Kyp, who nodded.

Scout bit her lip and nodded, speeding off into the darkness. Yoda and Whie followed her, ushering the younglings between them. Kyp and Anakin took the rear, igniting their lightsabers. The red and blue blades cast an eerie glow on the walls of the alley as they plunged through an extensive labyrinth of passageways that was so complex Kyp couldn't remember all the twists and turns. He did know, however, that they were moving deeper into Coruscant – and they were headed downwards. They must be somewhere in the lower levels by now.

The deeper they went, the further away the sounds of the clone troopers became. Eventually, the marching footsteps and loud voices disappeared entirely, just as the Jedi and the younglings stumbled into a small square that was formed by the walls of tall buildings all around them. There was a dark tunnel guarded by a grate in one wall.

Scout rushed towards the grate, took one look and backed away. "I don't think we should go through there," she said nervously. "We're trapped."

"Don't panic," Kyp told her firmly as he and Anakin emerged out of the darkness of the alley, the last to reach the square. "Master Yoda, are all the younglings here?"

Yoda nodded an affirmative. "Yes. But rest, we must, before we continue from here."

"We can't stay for long, they'll find us eventually." Kyp turned to Anakin, who was searching for his comm. "Can you signal Senator Organa from here."

Anakin raised his comlink and nodded. "Should be able to." He stepped a little distance away from the main group and activated the comm. "Senator Organa? It's Anakin Skywalker. I need your assistance." He paused. "Yes. They did. We managed to rescue some younglings and a couple of Padawans, but that was it. We need to get off-planet as soon as possible. Yes. Thank you." Anakin paused. "Are you sure? It could take hours… all right. No, don't go near the Temple. We are not returning to it." He paused again, listening. "Very well. Thank you." Anakin stowed the comlink away and turned back to Kyp.

"It's done," he said. "Now we have to wait. I could not give him coordinates as I do not know where we are, but the Senator will find us."

Kyp nodded. "I could use the rest," he said. He glanced at his shoulder. The bleeding had stopped, but he knew that he would need medical attention soon. The pain was building up again.

"Then rest," Anakin said. "Just be on your guard. You never know if the clones will find us."

"I never let my guard down."

* * *

Anakin paced impatiently around the enclosed square that the boy had led them to; _what_ was taking so long? They didn't have much time; the clones would eventually discover the way through all the twists and turns and find them and then what? Both Yoda and Durron were wounded and he, Anakin, was not at his full strength. His confrontation with Palpatine – no, _Sidious_ – and the assault on the Temple had drained much of his energy and he needed rest. On top of his physical weakness, his thoughts were uneasy. So much had happened that day, so much he could barely even begin to understand – and deep within the pit of his stomach, he felt the stirrings of guilt.

He felt guilty for what had happened to the Jedi Temple and the hundreds of Jedi who inhabited it. Anakin did not know how many of them had escaped, but their dead must have been over a hundred – and he had caused it. If he hadn't denied Sidious, if he hadn't turned his back on him, if he hadn't _fought_ him, perhaps none of this would happen.

But he had turned his back on the Chancellor and Sidious had retaliated like a wounded snake – and Anakin knew that it was only a matter of time before he struck again, this time targeting someone much closer to Anakin than any Jedi in the Temple.

Padmé was in danger, and Anakin knew it. If not now… then soon. It was only a matter of time before Palpatine tried to hurt him in his weakness place. Anakin _had_ to get to her as soon as possible, but he couldn't do anything until Bail Organa arrived.

The helplessness made him want to scream.

"I am _not_ a bantha-head!" a girl's indignant voice called. "Don't call me a bantha-head!"

"You are, too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Anakin sighed exasperatedly. "Quiet!" he snapped, turning around. "Scout, please… just, be quiet."

Scout and Whie stared back at him, their fingers pointed directly at each other.

"She started it!" Whie exclaimed.

"He started it!" Scout cried, in unison with Whie.

"Okay, that's enough," Anakin said sharply. "Be quiet."

Scout's eyes flashed and she abruptly turned her back on him, striding away.

"Scout!" Whie called. "I didn't mean it."

"Nerf-herder!"

Anakin rubbed his forehead. Teenagers… Had he ever been that bad? Anakin made a mental note to ask Obi-Wan the next time he saw him.

Anakin wandered over to the spot where Durron was sitting, his back to a wall, attempting to tend to his wounds. He had ripped both sleeves off his shirt and had used them as improvised bandages, one for his shoulder, the other for his leg. He was in the process of winding one of them tightly around his leg when Anakin sat down beside him; Durron was working gingerly, as the palms of his hands were torn and bloodied. Judging from his shallow breathing, the Jedi was in terrible pain.

"Are you all right?" Anakin asked.

"I think I'll live," Durron replied through gritted teeth. He finished tying the bandage and glanced at Anakin. "But I admit, the sooner I see a medcentre, the happier I'll be."

"You're not the only one, believe me." Anakin's eyes narrowed as he viewed the younglings Durron had managed to rescue from the Temple. They were sitting on the ground, cross-legged, their faces pale and smudged with ash. Yoda was with them; Anakin guessed that the diminutive Jedi Master's presence helped calm the children down. Off in a corner, Scout sat with Whie. The two Padawans were deep in conversation, frequently shooting looks at the strange boy who had helped them to safety.

"How do you think the kids are doing?" Anakin asked presently.

"They'll live through this," Kyp grunted. His eyes were closed, his expression pained. "If there wasn't the threat of clones finding us, I'd use a healing trance, but I don't think I can risk it."

"Senator Organa should be arriving soon," Anakin told him. "He'll take us to the Tantive IV; we'll be safe enough there. We'll have to get off planet. It won't take Palpa… Sidious long to figure out what happened to us."

_But first I need to find Padmé,_ he added silently.

Kyp cracked open his eyes and looked up at him suspiciously. "You're planning something."

Anakin growled. _How does he _know _these things? _he demanded himself. Durron always seemed to know exactly what was going on.

"What is it?" Durron asked.

"I…" He swallowed hard. "There's someone else in danger," he said. "I need to find her. She's not safe."

"Let me guess, it's Senator Amidala, right?"

Anakin reeled with shock. He felt his jaw drop.

"How do you–?!"

The Jedi held up his hands and smiled slightly. "Well, considering what you were yelling at Palpatine…"

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Right. Of course."

"It's not really all that difficult to figure out."

"Heh."

The two Jedi were silent again as they both watched the skies, waiting.

"Thank you for your help," Anakin said after a moment. "If you hadn't been there, I don't think we would have gotten this many kids out alive."

Durron shrugged. "You're welcome." He paused. "I'm taking that as a sign that you don't think I'm a Sith Lord anymore."

Anakin didn't bother to look at him. "I know who the Sith Lord is," he said, his voice hollow. He did not want to discuss the matter now. Every time he thought about it, he could feel his blood boiling, first with anger, then with guilt and, finally, with confusion. "But," he continued, "that does not mean that I don't completely trust you. Yet."

"Understandable."

"I apologize for… any insults," Anakin added absent-mindedly. After tonight, any argument he had had with Durron seemed like such a long time ago. It was lost in fog. At the moment, Anakin found that he couldn't really remember anything at all, except for Palpatine's face, his words, his revelation – and the atrocities committed at the Jedi Temple.

And Padmé's face.

"Look, it doesn't matter—"

The sound of speeders screeching to a halt interrupted Durron's response. Anakin looked up; six speeders were hovering above them. One was driven by Bail Organa himself.

"Anakin!" the Alderaanian Senator called. "Are you all right?"

"We're fine!" Anakin replied, standing up. "But we need to get out of here as soon as possible."

Bail nodded. "Of course. We'll transfer the children first."

The process was tricky, maneuvering speeders into such a small space, but Bail's men were competent and they managed it. Anakin and Yoda quickly moved the younglings, Scout and Whie into the speeders.

"There isn't much time," Bail said. "We could see the clones scouring the area for you as we flew overhead."

Anakin nodded. "Listen," he said, "I have to borrow a speeder. There's something I need to do."

Bail frowned. "Anakin, what—"

"You take the younglings back to the Tantive IV," Anakin said firmly. "Yoda and Durron will go with you. I'll catch up as soon as I can and then we'll get off planet."

"Anakin, if there's anything I can do to help –"

"Not this time, Senator," Anakin interrupted. "I'm going alone."

"No, you're not," Durron said, limping towards them. "I'm coming with you."

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "I don't need help," he said flatly. "Besides, you're wounded."

"I can take care of myself," Durron replied shortly. _"You_, I think, might need help."

Anakin threw his hands up in the air. "All right!" he said shortly. "I don't have time to argue. Come on." With that, he strode towards the nearest speeder, curtly told the pilot to step out, and took the controls. Kyp leapt after him, getting in the speeder just in time. Anakin activated the engine and pulled the speeder up and away. His heart was pounding fiercely. Time was precious; they couldn't afford to waste any.

* * *

Padmé sat at the desk in her apartment study, rubbing her eyes as she stared at her datapad's screen. Though she had already changed into her nightclothes, her overactive mind was keeping her awake. She was trying to hammer out a way to address the Senate about the fact that Palpatine's new laws evoked powers that he had no right to – powers that would eventually turn him into a dictator.

It was all about wording. If she could convince the majority that she was right, then Palpatine would soon be _forced_ to step down…

Padmé felt her stomach twist and she stopped re-reading her work to look down at her stomach. Her unborn children were uneasy; no doubt part of her restlessness had passed on to them.

She rubbed her stomach. "Shh," she murmured. "It's all right, you two. It will be all right, there's no need to –"

_Bang._

Padmé jumped, knocking over her chair as she abruptly stood up. Her breathing rapidly increased – that had been no ordinary sound. That had been blaster fire.

_Bang. _

"Moteé!" a woman screamed.

It was Ellé.

Padmé gasped; an assassin had somehow managed to infiltrate her apartment! Trying to keep herself calm, Padmé punched the code into the pad on her desk that opened the secret compartment. From it, she withdrew a small blaster that she kept in case there ever came a time when she needed to defend herself.

There was only one way in and out of her study. Padmé walked quickly across the room and positioned herself by the door to her study – when the assassin came through, she would be ready.

Padmé flinched as she heard a second blaster shot accompanied by Ellé's scream.

"Spread out and find her! The Senator is somewhere in here."

Padmé almost dropped the blaster in surprise. Those were clones – she could tell from the voice. But why would the clones come here? What did they want with her?

"In there!" a clone's voice shouted; Padmé could hear that he was right outside her study door. She pursed her lips and tightened her grip on the blaster.

The door blasted open. Three clone troopers filed in.

Padmé shot and darted through the open door.

"Over there!"

She narrowly dodged a blaster bolt as she flung herself around the corner of the corridor. Gritting her teeth, Padmé sprang up and fired a shot back as she ran down the corridor towards her veranda.

"Stop her!"

Blaster shots flew over her head, plunging into the ceiling. Padmé ran, breathless. Where were C-3PO and R2-D2? Surely the clones hadn't destroyed the droids as well!

She ran out on to the veranda, looking around quickly for any sign of help, anything at all. There was traffic passing by; perhaps someone would spot her –

She shrieked as a blaster bolt narrowly missed her. Spinning around, Padmé pointed her blaster at her attackers.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"Senator Amidala," one of the clones said, "you are under arrest."

"On what charge?" Padmé asked, raising an eyebrow. She was gripping her blaster so tightly her knuckles were beginning to turn white.

"Treason," the clone trooper replied shortly.

He raised his blaster, pointing it directly at her. Padmé looked defiantly back at the clones, her finger ready to pull the trigger.

_Anakin, I'm so sorry,_ she thought.

Padmé pulled the trigger. The clones opened fire.

"NO!"

A rush of wind, a blur of colour; a blue lightsaber appeared out of nowhere and struck away the blaster bolts, flicking them back towards the clones.

Padmé's eyes widened – Anakin had somehow, miraculously, arrived. He was standing beside her, his blue eyes flashing, his lightsaber raised. Beside him was another Jedi, tall and dark-haired, his crimson lightsaber ignited and at the ready. She blinked, momentarily shocked – it was Kyp Durron.

The clones shouted in surprise.

"Jedi!"

"Shoot them!"

"Get behind me!" Anakin shouted to Padmé, leaping in front of her. "Durron – distract them!"

Durron nodded and leapt into the fray, his crimson lightsaber dancing as he battered away the blaster fire. Anakin kept himself firmly in front of Padmé, his lightsaber protecting her from any stray blaster bolts.

"Get to the speeder," he shouted above the deafening sounds that filled the apartment.

Padmé nodded. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the speeder that Anakin had used to arrive here on the landing pad. Glancing briefly at the clones who were insistently continuing their attack, Padmé turned and ran towards the speeder. Still gripping her blaster, she turned her head and saw Anakin jump into the battle.

"Oh, Anakin," she murmured. "What's happened?"

* * *

Kyp panted as he dodged the oncoming barrage of blaster fire, his lightsaber weaving back and forth as he batted away the red bolts. Anakin was beside him now, his blue blade burning with a passion that equaled his own.

"How many of them are there?" he demanded.

"Too many," Kyp replied grimly, swerving to the right. "We can't hold forever."

"We don't need to," Anakin said. "We just need to hold them off long enough." With that, he slashed viciously at the closest clone trooper and continued to press onwards.

A frantic bleeping sounded behind them. Kyp glanced quickly behind him; R2-D2 was rolling out of a room that the clones seemed to have overlooked. Behind him, he towed the legless body of C-3PO.

The protocol droid was protesting as loud as his programming allowed.

"Ouch! Do watch where you're going, Artoo—"

Anakin ducked a flying blaster bolt and looked towards the droids, a grin lighting up his expression.

"Artoo!" he shouted. "Threepio!"

"Master Anakin!" C-3PO exclaimed from the floor, waving his arms. "Please help, the clones have invaded –"

"Durron, get the droids back to the speeder!" Anakin ordered. "Wait for me, I'll be coming!" He flipped himself through the air and ran towards the retreating, but still attacking, clone troopers.

"Anakin!" Kyp shouted, but soon Anakin was out of sight. Rolling his eyes and swearing under his breath, Kyp took off down the hall towards the veranda where Anakin had landed the speeder only a few minutes earlier. The droids followed him.

Padmé was waiting in the speeder, her face pale and her hands tightly grasping a blaster which she held in her lap. She seemed to be staring off into nothing, her lips moving silently.

Kyp made sure that no stray clones were coming after him before he deactivated his lightsaber and approached the speeder. C-3PO was arguing insistently with R2-D2 and Kyp ignored them both as he detached 3PO's broken metal body from R2-D2 and unceremoniously threw the protocol droid into the back of the speeder. R2 twittered.

"Oh, shut up," Kyp muttered.

"Where's Anakin?" Padmé demanded, glancing at him.

"He's coming," Kyp told her. "He asked me to come back and wait. "

"What happened?" Padmé asked quietly.

Kyp raised his head and looked off into the distance. He could just make out the shape of the Jedi Temple on the horizon. Smoke was drifting away from it, up into the sky.

"See for yourself," he said, pointing.

Padmé turned and looked. Her mouth opened in surprise. She looked exactly the same way Jaina looked when _she_ was in shock.

"How? Why?"

Kyp swallowed hard. "Palpatine," he said simply. "It was Palpatine. He ordered the attack on the Jedi Temple. Anakin, Yoda and I tried to save as many Jedi as we could, but we arrived too late. We saved ten younglings and two Padawans. They're with Bail Organa right now. Anakin contacted him and asked for help."

Padmé pressed a hand to her mouth. "Palpatine…?"

"Yes," Kyp said heavily. "Anakin hasn't had a chance to tell you yet, then."

"He told me that there's a possibility of Palpatine being controlled by a Sith Lord," Padmé said.

_What?_

"When was this?" Kyp demanded. She had never mentioned it during their previous conversation.

"Several days ago," Padmé told him. "Maybe more than a week. He said that Obi-Wan told him that."

_Oh,_ Kyp thought. _More than a week? That was before this all happened._

_That's when Jaina left. _

He shook the thought from his mind. He couldn't let his fears for her preoccupy him. Kyp turned his thoughts back to the present situation.

"It's worse than that, Padmé," Kyp said. "Palpatine _is_ the Sith Lord."

"_What?"_ Padmé gasped.

Kyp shrugged. "He deceived you all. Even Anakin – until tonight."

"Yes, you warned me about that." She paused. "But what happened tonight?" Padmé's brown eyes flashed. "Tell me everything."

"I can do that, love," Anakin's voice said.

Kyp and Padmé turned and saw Anakin approaching them. His lightsaber was deactivated and there was a hole in his sleeve, through which Kyp could see the glint of metal. He raised his eyebrows in surprise; Anakin had a metal arm.

Padmé reaction wasn't what Kyp expected. She glanced back and forth between Anakin and Kyp, finally settling on her husband, her eyes questioning. "Anakin?" There was a hidden question in her voice.

Anakin shrugged. "It's all right, Padmé," he said. "Everything's going to be fine. Let's go." He hurried down the steps to the landing platform. "We don't have much time. Palpatine was behind this attack, Padmé. They killed Ellé and Moteé. Those clones are going to carrying out their orders no matter what I try to do to stop them. Bail's waiting with the _Tantive IV_; we'll get a passage off-planet with him. We'll be safe then." He climbed into the speeder. "Are you all right?"

She nodded.

Anakin glanced at Kyp. "Come on," he said. "We're running on a tight schedule."

* * *

Sometime later, after navigating the early morning skies of Coruscant, Anakin, Kyp, Padmé and the droids arrived at the spaceport where Bail Organa and the _Tantive IV_ were waiting. Sneaking past security, they boarded the _Tantive IV_ and were immediately met by Yoda and a worried Bail Organa.

"Padmé?" the Senator of Alderaan asked, incredulous. "Why are you here?"

"Bail," she said, "Palpatine attempted to have me assassinated. If Anakin hadn't gotten there on time, the clones would have killed me. This entire Galaxy is going crazy." She glanced up at Anakin, who was holding her close.

"An assassination attempt?" Bail demanded, his eyes widening. _"Why?"_

"We can only guess," Padmé replied.

"Troubling, this is," Yoda said, "for Sidious to attack one he once trusted."

Padmé nodded. "He was my friend and mentor once," she said. "I don't understand it either. If he somehow found out about what we were trying to do, Bail, he would have silenced it in a different manner – he would not have resorted to killing me." She paused. "There must be another reason."

"There is," Anakin said through gritted teeth. "Me."

"You mean he tried to get to _you_ by killing Padmé?" Bail asked. "Why? Why target her? More importantly, why target _you?_ The Chancellor has always held you in high respect."

Anakin and Padmé exchanged looks.

"Things… have not gone will between me and the Chancellor," Anakin said slowly. "We are no longer what you might call friends."

The look on Bail's face showed that he was uncomprehending, but he knew enough not to press the matter.

"But Palpatine knows of… our friendship," Padmé said at last. "He knows that Anakin and I are close."

"Troubling, this is," Yoda said, "but leave, we must, else risk getting caught, we will."

Bail nodded. "I will notify the captain. We will leave immediately. I will have someone show you to your cabins. You all look like you need rest." His eyes scanned Kyp and Anakin. "And you two need medical attention. I'll alert my staff."

Kyp nodded and smiled weakly. "Senator, you've just said the magic words."

* * *

After having bacta patches applied to his wounds by Bail's on-board medic, Kyp was led to his cabin. After he had a chance to shower, change into clean clothes and catch some much needed sleep, Kyp felt refreshed. However, the grievousness of the situation had not abandoned him. Every waking moment, his thoughts were on the fact that he had, in a way, failed his mission. The Jedi had been massacred, the Temple was in ruins, and now the only remnants of the Jedi Order he knew of were ten younglings, two Padawans, a Jedi Master and the Chosen One. They were on the run, and any Republic system that they could land on had immediately turned unfriendly.

The only good thing was that at least there was no chance of Anakin turning to the Dark side.

On the other hand, things were about to get much worse.

The younglings, Scout and Whie were fast asleep when Bail called Kyp, Anakin, Padmé and Yoda to the stateroom suite of the _Tantive IV_. He had a strange expression on his face when they arrived.

"Bail, what is it?" Padmé said worriedly. She had changed out of her nightclothes into a modest white dress that had been lent to her by Bail's aide. It was too small on her as it stretched tight around her distended belly.

"The HoloNet," he grunted, waving for them to sit down.

"What about it?" Anakin asked, sitting down beside Padmé. He, like Kyp, had swapped his torn and bloodied Jedi robes for Alderaanian clothes borrowed from Bail.

"Palpatine issued a message," Bail told them, "calling the Senate into Extraordinary Session. Attendance is mandatory."

Padmé's eyes hardened. "Well, I know that's one session I _won't _be attending," she said coldly.

"There's something worse, though," Kyp said, watching Bail's expression closely. "Right?"

The Senator of Alderaan nodded. "The sessions already in progress," he said. "It's being broadcasted on the HoloNet. Watch."

He activated a hologram that displayed an image of the Senate. Palpatine stood in the centre of the Grand Convocation Chamber of the Galactic Senate, flanked by Mas Amedda.

"…the Jedi traitors will be hunted down, rooted out wherever they may hide, and brought to justice, dead or alive! All collaborators will suffer the same fate. Those who protect the enemy _are_ the enemy! Now is the time! Now we will strike back! Now we will _destroy_ the _destroyer! Death to the enemies of democracy!"_

The Senate roared.

Padmé paled. "What is he trying to do?" she asked, looking horrified.

"He's turning the entire Galaxy against the Jedi," Bail said grimly. "But my question is _how? _How did he convince so many of them?"

"I think I have an idea," Kyp said. "Anakin and I went to his office early last night. He recorded our conversation and, judging from the way he was acting, anyone listening to that recording would assume that he was entirely innocent and that we were attempting to kill him."

"We _were_ attempting to kill him," Anakin growled.

"I understand what you mean," Padmé murmured. "That was extremely clever of him. There's no wonder now…" She shook her head.

"But why would Palpatine do that?" Bail asked. "It doesn't make sense. Why would one man go against the defenders of peace? Wouldn't the Jedi _help_ him in the long run?"

"Bail, Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord," Anakin said abruptly.

"_A Sith Lord?!"_ Bail exclaimed.

"He's manipulated the Senate and he won't stop until every Jedi is dead," Anakin continued. "We tried to stop him…" His voice faded away.

"But failed, we did," Yoda finished. "Dead, many Jedi are."

Kyp was not pay attention to the conversation. His eyes were on the holo, watching as Palpatine stood at the Chancellor's Podium, calling out to the Senate.

"This has been the most trying of times, but we have passed the test. The war is _over!"_

The Senate cheered. Padmé raised a hand to her mouth, her eyes glued to the holo.

"The Separatists have been utterly defeated, and the _Republic will stand united!_ United and free!"

Enthusiastic clapping.

"The Jedi Rebellion was our final test – it was the last gasp of the forces of darkness! Now we have left that darkness behind us forever, and a new day has begun! It is _morning_ in the Republic! Never again will we be divided! Never again will sector turn against sector, planet turn against planet, _sibling _turn against _sibling!_ We are one nation, _indivisible!"_

"This is it," Padmé murmured.

"What is what?" Kyp asked.

Padmé glanced at him. "You'll see," was all she said.

"To ensure that we will always stand together, that we will always speak with a single voice and act with a single hand, the Republic must change. We must _evolve._ We must _grow!_ We have become an empire in fact; let us become an empire in name as well! We are the first _Galactic Empire!"_

The Senate erupted with wild cheering.

The words rang in Kyp's ears. His mind protested the fact that he was even hearing them – how was this possible? An Empire…

Just as before.

"_No!"_ Anakin shouted, pounding his fist on the table. "This can't be!"

"What are they doing?" Bail demanded, not looking at Anakin, his eyes on the members of the Senate. "Do they even understand what they are _cheering_ for?"

"They don't," Anakin said harshly. "They won't. They _can't._"

"We are an Empire that will continue to be ruled by this august body! We are an Empire that will never return to the political maneuvering and corruption that have wounded us so deeply; we are an Empire that will be directed by a _single_ sovereign, chosen for _life!"_

_This is a disaster,_ Kyp thought grimly. _This shouldn't _be _happening. Why couldn't we have prevented this? Where did we go wrong?_

He already knew the answer to that.

"We are an Empire ruled by the _majority! _An Empire ruled by a new Constitution! An Empire of laws, not politicians! An Empire devoted to the preservation of a just society. Of a safe and secure society! We are an Empire that will _stand ten thousand years!"_

The Senate roared.

"We will celebrate the anniversary of this day as _Empire Day. _For the sake of our children, for our children's children! For the next ten thousand years! Safety! Security! Justice and peace!"

The Senate went berserk, cheering and roaring, repeating Palpatine's final words with him, their clapping thunderous.

Padmé lowered her head. "So this is how liberty dies," she said. "With thunderous applause."

"Turn it off," Anakin growled. "I don't want to hear anymore."

Bail shut off the holo. The silence in the room was just as deafening as the Senate's cheering.

"What now?" Bail asked. "We're fugitives from the Empire. We can't return to our homes."

"Do one thing, we can," Yoda said.

"What's that?" Anakin asked. "We can't fight this alone, Master!"

"Wait!" Padmé held up her hands. "Yes, we can. We _can._"

"How?" Anakin demanded.

Padmé smiled slightly. "Bail and I still have contacts in the Senate," she said. "Friends who will remain loyal to us. Though we cannot return ourselves, we can still operate through _them._ We can put up a resistance. We _will_ fight. This injustice to the Galaxy will not last. I _will not_ see democracy abandoned!"

"Correct, Senator Amidala is," Yoda said. "Fight, we must—" Suddenly, the Jedi Master broke off with a sharp gasp of either surprise or pain. Anakin stood up, concerned.

"Master Yoda?"

The Jedi Master slumped forwards, one hand clutching at the material of his shirt, right over his heart.

"Master Yoda, what's wrong?" Padmé asked worriedly.

Kyp knew exactly what was wrong as he felt it, too.

There was disturbance in the Force – a great echo, as if thousands of voices had cried out and were suddenly silenced. Kyp knew exactly what it was, and as he glanced across the table at Anakin, he knew that the Chosen One had also felt it.

The death of hundreds of Jedi.

_Jaina! _Kyp's thoughts cried. She had to be alive. She couldn't be dead, not now. She was supposed to be safe on Shanthral—

If she was dead, it was his fault.

But the clones hadn't gone to Shanthral. So Jaina had to be safe.

"How many were off-planet when the clones attacked?" Kyp asked, his voice hollow.

Anakin's eyes were wild. "I don't know," he answered hoarsely. "Hundreds. They were helping with the end of the war – the final battles against the Separatists."

They both glanced at Yoda.

"Gone, they are," he said quietly.

"Every Jedi was accompanied by clones," Anakin said. "They must have—"

"—killed them," Kyp finished. "So it wasn't just the Jedi Temple that was targeted. Palpatine has tried to destroy the entire _Order."_

"What?" Padmé gasped. "What do you mean?"

"Dark, these times are," Yoda whispered.

"There must still be some alive!" Anakin said angrily. "There _has_ to be."

Kyp nodded. "Of course. Some may have been able to escape. But they'll be returning to Coruscant, won't they?" He looked at Yoda.

The Jedi Master nodded. "Into a trap, they will walk."

"Then we must scour the Galaxy," Bail said. "If there are still Jedi out there, they are being hunted down. And those that weren't accompanied by clones are probably oblivious to what has happened and they will be returning to Coruscant—"

"—right into the enemy's hands," Padmé said. "We have to do something."

"Jaina," Kyp murmured under his breath.

Four confused faces turned in his direction.

"Jaina's out there," Kyp clarified. "With Obi-Wan. They had no clones with them as their mission wasn't connected to the war – correct?"

"Yes," Yoda answered.

"Right," Kyp said. "That's it then. We need to go to Shanthral."

"Shanthral?" Bail asked. "What is—?"

"It's a planet on the Outer-Rim," Anakin explained. "Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jaina Solo are there. We need to get to them before they try to return to Coruscant." There was a strange, hollow look in his eyes as he spoke.

Bail nodded. "Of course. I will alert Captain Antilles; we'll go there immediately."


	31. Rose, Dragon

**CHAPTER XXXI**

**Rose, Dragon**

The journey back through the forests of Shanthral was long and tiring, but nothing more than that. The presence of the Dark side was gone, and the world seemed to hold its breath as birds and wild animals tentatively came out once again to explore.

Without a guide, Jaina and Obi-Wan both felt that they lost their course many times and became lost in the woods. Retracing their trail was easier said than done. After exiting the cavern, they rested on the shores of the lake. Jaina had carefully inspected her injuries and found that instead of cracked ribs, her sides had been painfully bruised. For that, she was thankful, even though the bruises still made every movement painful.

The packs they had discarded in haste early that day were on the opposite shore. Though Jaina was not fond of the idea, there was no other way to retrieve them other than to swim across the lake once more. Once across, they were able to salvage their supplies and continue on their way.

Finding the falls again was easy enough, but climbing down was difficult as both were injured. Jaina's bruised sides made the climbing action painful, but she gritted her teeth and carried on. She did try to tend to her injury by using the emergency first aid supplies, but found that they did not work well. Later, she attempted a healing trance several times, but could never manage one successfully. Her mind was too preoccupied to concentrate.

"Jaina?" Obi-Wan asked one day as they made their way through a thick patch of forest. Jaina was slightly ahead of him at this point, pushing her way through the underbrush.

"What?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder. "OW!"

A branch she hadn't noticed scraped across her cheek – it stung. Jaina pressed a hand against the cheek and then withdrew it; her fingers were coated with blood. Grimacing in distaste, she wiped her cheek clean as best she could and continued foraging on through the vegetation.

"Are you all right?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I'm fine," she answered shortly. "Those branches are sharp."

He chuckled.

Jaina sighed, and winced. She pressed one hand tightly against her side. She found that it helped, to some extent. Ignoring the pain, she continued on, holding the next branch aside so she and Obi-Wan could get through unscathed.

"What is it like, in the future?" he asked as he caught up with her.

Jaina let the branch go. It snapped back with a twang.

"It's… different," she said. "There's a lot that happened in your time that dictated how things were in _my_ time. Palpatine… Vader. The Empire they forged. My parents fought against it, and brought peace back to the Galaxy. For a time." She frowned. "There's never been much peace."

"Is that why you came here?" he asked softly.

Jaina kept her eyes on the path ahead. "That's part of it," she murmured. "It's very complicated, Obi-Wan. I've never had what you would call a normal life. I've seen so much pain and suffering that I _had_ to come here. It's the only way to prevent things from getting out of control. You don't really want to know what happened in my past."

She could feel his eyes on her as she moved on ahead.

"Jaina, I do want to know."

Jaina stopped. She bit her lower lip. Ever since her revelation, Obi-Wan had been trying to get more and more details from her about her past. As much as she liked him, as much as she trusted him, she couldn't bear to let herself talk about it, even though she wanted to. The Yuuzhan Vong war, the crisis at Mustafar, the deaths of her brothers – all of it. It was locked up inside her, and she could only speak about it in vague terms.

"You don't need to," she said finally. "It's not important."

There was a pause. Jaina could almost hear his thoughts. She knew exactly what he would say next. She continued on ahead, leaving him several yard behind.

"Jaina, it is important!" Obi-Wan called. "I'm trying to understand where you're coming from. Your past experiences – everything. Time travel is no small matter. It's an ability that not many would ever dare to uncover, let alone use. Something terrible must have happened in your past, and I understand that. Otherwise you would never have come here. And it is not just about what you said about Anakin and Palpatine."

Would he ever stop being so damn perceptive?

"I don't want to talk, Obi-Wan," Jaina grunted. "Come on, we need to get back to the village as soon as possible."

"Jaina—"

She turned around abruptly. "Would you stop?" she demanded. "Please?" That was as much as she could articulate.

There was a long silence between the two Jedi. The only sound they could hear was the passing of the wind as it rustled the leaves above, the light twittering of birds and the scampering of small mammals as they climbed up and down the trunks of the trees.

"I'm sorry," Obi-Wan said finally. "It was not my place."

Jaina nodded, her lips a thin, tight line. "Thank you," she said abruptly. She turned away and began moving forwards again when she heard him gasp. It was a strange sound, mixed equally with shock and astonishment, pain and sorrow.

She spun around and saw that Obi-Wan was leaning against a tree for support. His hands were visibly trembling.

"What is it?" she asked, quickly stepping towards him. "Obi-Wan, what's wrong?"

He looked at her. "Didn't you feel it?" he whispered.

Jaina frowned, uncertain what he was talking about – the Dark side had, after all vanished – and then, suddenly, she knew. She could feel it in every fibre of her being.

The Force was resonating with the echoes of hundreds of dead. It was as if hundreds of voices had suddenly cried out and were just as suddenly silenced. Part of the Force became an empty void – an abyss that would take years to heal.

"What happened?" Jaina breathed, staring at him, her eyes wide.

"I don't know," Obi-Wan answered. He straightened. "I can't even imagine what it was… but something's gone terribly wrong. The Jedi… I felt my fellows die. Hundreds of them."

Jaina inhaled sharply.

Anakin. That had to be the reason.

He had turned to the Dark side.

_But this wasn't supposed to happen! _her thoughts cried. _Kyp was supposed to be there, to stop him! _I _was supposed to be there!_

Jaina stepped backwards and sat down, her back against a tree. She ran her fingers through her dirty hair, absent-mindedly picking out tiny pieces of leaves. Her journey through the forest had turned her hair into a tangle of mud, leaves and bramble.

This was all her fault. If she hadn't left Coruscant in the first place—

But perhaps there was still time! If she got back to Coruscant, she could find Anakin and convince him to turn back to the light side. Kyp was there – surely both of them working together would be enough, especially if Obi-Wan was there to help them… Her thoughts froze.

Kyp.

Had he also been caught in the devastation she and Obi-Wan and felt rebounding through the Force? Her heart began to beat rapidly.

_Kyp! _ she yelled with her mind. _Kyp!_

But there was no reply. She was too far away for him to hear.

Or he was already dead.

_Oh, Force – what's happened? _

She felt like screaming, but it was as if her voice had been taken away from her. Suddenly, she was trembling uncontrollably. If Kyp was dead… if _Anakin _had killed him… what was going to happen now? She buried her face in her hands.

"Jaina?" It was Obi-Wan. His voice sounded so distant.

She couldn't reply.

"Jaina, look at me!"

Suddenly, he was there beside her, gently prying her hands away. His expression, though it contained fear and shock, was comforting. There was something almost soothing about having him beside her.

"I'm sure it's not Anakin," he said. "If it was, I would know."

Jaina pressed a hand against her mouth. "What if it is?" Her words were muffled.

"It's _not,"_ Obi-Wan said. "You've got to keep telling yourself that. Anakin would _not_ turn." He paused. "And I'm sure Kyp is fine."

"Really?"

"Yes. He's a strong man. Whatever caused this devastation, I'm sure he's survived." He stood up and offered her his hand. "Come on. We'll never get back to Coruscant at this rate."

Jaina smiled tightly and pressed her hand against her cheek. Her fingers came into contact with something wet. Had she been _crying?_

To her surprise, she had been.

Jaina swallowed and took Obi-Wan's hand, allowing him to help her up. They didn't speak anymore that day as they continued their trek through the wilderness. Both were preoccupied. With each step, Jaina had to repeat Obi-Wan's words to herself in order to keep herself going, even though she felt that he was wrong.

Anakin could turn. He would turn. He had turned.

And she had been powerless to prevent it.

* * *

No matter how many times Obi-Wan told her that her fears had not come to pass and that there had to be another explanation for the devastation they had felt through the Force, Jaina could not stop the terrible guilt that simmered in the pit of her stomach. This was her fault – it was all her fault. If she had talked to Anakin early, if she had just told him the _truth_, none of this would have happened.

But she hadn't. She had been too stubborn, too convinced that she knew the way her grandfather's mind worked. She had been too obstinate in her beliefs that he would automatically throw the truth away and turn against her.

And now he had done just that – he had turned against her, against the Jedi, against his very own self.

Jaina was silent for the rest of the journey, lost in her thoughts, trapped by her confused, anguished emotions. She let Obi-Wan take the lead, lagging behind. She barely noticed the wilderness around her passing by.

"Jaina, we're almost back," Obi-Wan said.

"Huh?" She snapped her mind awake.

"We're almost back."

It was evening now, and the forest was growing dark. They were standing at the top of a hill, and Obi-Wan was pointing at something he could see through the thick vegetation. Jaina came to stand beside him, her eyes narrowed – and then she saw it, too. Tiny pinpricks of light, coming from the circular Shanthrai village below.

_Jaina?_ an inquisitive voice sounded within her mind.

Jaina jumped in surprise.

_Kanthrai?_ she sent back.

_Yes! _the Shanthra said. _You're alive! Thank the spirits of Nature. I was terribly worried for you. _

_Thank you, Kanthrai—_

_Are you injured? There's something wrong. I can feel it. _

Jaina frowned. She had carefully cloaked her emotions – how could Kanthrai have guessed that? There was no way she could have known what had happened… or was there?

_Kanthrai, I—_

_No! We will talk properly once you have returned to the village. The others want assurance that you have eliminated the danger; they will talk to you first. Then, you and I have something to discuss. _

The Shanthra's presence within her mind withdrew before Jaina could say another word.

"What's wrong?" Obi-Wan's voice asked.

Jaina shook herself to clear her head. She glanced at him. "Uh… I just heard from Kanthrai."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "How?" he asked.

"Telepathically," Jaina replied.

"Oh." He didn't press the matter.

It did not take them a long time to climb down the hill to the Shanthrai village. Soon enough, they reached the grassy glade and found an assembly of Shanthrai waiting for them, each one holding a candle of some sort for light. The yellow flames danced and bobbed, casting strange shadows on the tall grass as Obi-Wan and Jaina approached them.

They were silent for the most part, watching in wonder as the Jedi arrived. Out of the corner of her eye, Jaina saw Kanthrai waiting silently on the edge of the crowd, her head held high, her face serene. Jaina half-expected to hear the Shanthrai start babbling in their strange language, but for some reason, they didn't. They merely stood there, watching them, their heads bowed in respect.

Finally, one Shanthra came forwards. He was tall, and the colour of his skin had more of a greyish tone to its dark brown colour than the others – evidently, he was quite older than other Shanthrai Jaina had seen.

"Shan-you have eliminated the danger-thrai," he said solemnly. "Shan-we felt the darkness flee some time ago-thrai. Shan-we must thank you, brave ones, for saving us-thrai."

"It comes at a price," Jaina said grimly. "I'm sorry, but what we found was terror beyond imagining."

"Shan-tell of us this 'terror' so that we might know who our gravest enemy was-thrai."

"What's going on?" Obi-Wan murmured.

"We need to tell them what happened," Jaina whispered back. "They have to know what happened to Armik. What happened to their missing people."

Obi-Wan nodded gravely. "Of course."

Together, Jaina and Obi-Wan recounted most of the details of their climb up the falls and Armik's death, and their encounter with the mysterious Sith Lord and what they had found in the cavern. Jaina was cautious about telling them about how their enemy had disappeared through time, so she left out some of the finer details of the battle.

When the tale was complete, Jaina felt an overwhelming sense of sadness and grief from the Shanthrai. None of them were mad or outraged. None felt the sense of revenge. There was a collective sense of grief, shared by all. It rang through the Force, welling up in Jaina as well. The wallowing guilt she had felt was suddenly wiped clean by the sense of grief. Her breath caught in her throat and she found that she couldn't speak anymore.

"Shan-we thank you for what you have done, for the prices you have paid in helping us-thrai," the elderly Shanthra said. He bowed his head. "Shan-we would welcome you to stay here for tonight before continuing on to the human village-thrai."

"Thank you for the offer," Jaina said politely, forcing herself to speak.

It was late in the evening, but Jaina could not rest. She left Obi-Wan at the house the Shanthrai had given them, and found herself wandering down the single, circular path of the village. The night air was fresh. She was thankful for that – it helped calmed her down, helped her control the confusing thoughts whirling in her head.

"Shan-Jaina-thrai!" a soft voice called.

Jaina spun around and saw Kanthrai standing there quietly. There was a patch of moonlight on the path, illuminating her in silver. Her expression was very calm.

"I'm sorry, Kanthrai," Jaina said. "I didn't see you."

_You're troubled, Jaina,_ Kanthrai said. _I can sense it in your presence, and I can see it on your face. Not long ago, I felt a great disturbance in the flow of life. A great emptiness. Does it have something to do with the guilt and the grief you are feeling now?_

Jaina paused. The night breeze gently brushed through her loose hair. "Kanthrai," she said finally, "it's really complicated. There's no point on worrying yourself about my own troubles—"

_The troubles of the flow of Nature are the troubles of all,_ Kanthrai interrupted. _Surely, as a Jedi, you must understand that._

Jaina frowned. "Why are you… communicating to me this way?" she asked. "I mean, telepathically."

Kanthrai laughed lightly – the liquid laugh that was unique to her species. _It is simpler,_ she said. _Tell me why you feel this guilt. Are you somehow responsible for the great abyss in the flow of life?_

Jaina gaped at her. She wasn't sure of what to say. How could she explain it to someone so sweet and innocent as Kanthrai?

_I have something to show you, Jaina. I said that you and I have something to discuss._

"All right," Jaina said slowly. "What is it?"

_Come,_ Kanthrai said, turning around and walking stepping the darkness.

Jaina followed her silently. Kanthrai led her through a gap in the houses and out into the grassy glade. It was so dark that Jaina could barely see where she was going as they moved quietly through the grass and then into the forest. They were walking in a different direction from which Jaina had previously come. The land was less rough here and ran gently downhill. The vegetation was not as thick as it was in the forest to the north – there were no branches to push aside or roots to step over.

The Shanthra was silent as they walked further into the forest. Jaina wasn't sure what had caused this sudden change – when she had first met Kanthrai, the Shanthra girl had been talkative. Now she was grimly solemn, a trait that was reflected in her mannerisms and actions. What had happened?

"Kanthrai," Jaina begun, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she heard the Shanthra's voice whisper softly in her mind.

_Quiet. We are almost there. _

"But, Kanthrai—"

This time, Kanthrai said nothing, but the sense Jaina received from her stopped her from speaking any further.

_She's grieving,_ Jaina thought. _And it isn't recent. It goes beyond what's happened here on Shanthral. _

The forest path ended abruptly, opening up into another glade. However, Jaina would not have known that there was a glade there if it had not been for the moonlight shining down, illuminating the clearing in silver. Down from the trees grew a tangle of thick vines. They looked black, though they were probably a dark green colour of some kind – their colour had been leached away by the moonlight. The vines curled and folded upon themselves, creating a dense bush that consumed most of the glade. As Jaina and Kanthrai stepped out into the clearing, Jaina saw that the vines, although covered with soft leaves, were spiked with thick, sharp thorns. Deep within the tangle of thorns and vines, Jaina could just make out the outline of several flowers.

_The Thal'rosai,_ Kanthrai's voice murmured in Jaina's mind as she knelt on the grass beside the tangled bush. Her long fingers were carefully working their way around the thorns of the plant – she was clearly looking for something. _No foreigner has seen it before. It does not grow in many places on Shanthral. _

"Rare, then," Jaina said. "Why show me a plant?"

_It's not just any plant, Jaina,_ Kanthrai said. _It, like you, is out of its time._

Jaina froze.

_It, like you, does not belong here,_ Kanthrai continued. _But that is not all. Look._

She gently raised one of the outer vines – on its curled end was one of the plant's blossoms. In the moonlight, Jaina could just see it. She knelt beside Kanthrai and took the flower from her, careful not to cut her hands on the thorns. Immediately, she noted that it was some kind of rose. It had a similar shape to the other roses of the Galaxy. Its colour, however, was most unusual. It was a dark, purplish red that could almost be described as maroon. Its edges were blackened and withered. As Jaina stared at it, she suddenly became aware that insects were crawling at its heart. She flinched in surprise and glanced at Kanthrai.

"It's dying, isn't it?" she murmured. "The insects are killing it."

Kanthrai nodded. _Every season. The Thal'rosai always succumbs to the insects before it can bloom to the fullest. There are only every a few flowers before it dies. But it always comes back. Each new season, it returns to try again. _

Jaina let the vine drop, and in the process scratched her hand on a thorn.

"Ouch!" She raised her hand and sucked on the wound. It wasn't deep.

_The thorns make it difficult to care for,_ Kanthrai said. She slowly rose to her feet. In the moonlight, her gently curving bronze horns glowed strangely. _I must thank you, Jaina, for what you did for my kind and Shanthral. But I fear that there is something greater force working in this Galaxy, one that even you cannot defeat. You may try and try again, but you cannot stop the passage of time, the predestined events. _

"What are you getting at?"

_Can you not feel it, Jaina?_ Kanthrai asked. _Something's coming. Something more momentous than anything that has ever happened, or ever will happen. I've already felt the beginnings of it. The dragon is stirring. You _must _be careful. _

Jaina glanced at the rose she had dropped, her eyes drawn to the insects at its heart, to its wilted edges. She thought about Kanthrai's words, and then at the tremor she had felt through the Force.

_What's coming?_ she asked silently, but she feared she already knew the answer.

Vader.

Vader was coming.

_I cannot answer that question,_ Kanthrai said. _I am ignorant of the Galaxy beyond Shanthral. All I know is what I have felt in the flow of life. Something has been disrupted. And I'm not sure if anyone can fix it. _

Jaina looked up at the pitch-black sky. The moon shone brightly down on the glade. Then the wind blew a dark cloud across the sky, veiling the moonlight and casting the clearing into shadow.

* * *

"Finally, my embarrassment is at an end!"

An astromech droid bleeped sarcastically.

"That wasn't very nice of you, Artoo."

"That's enough!" Anakin growled.

C-3PO glanced at R2-D2; the astromech droid beeped apologetically.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir," 3PO said.

"That's all right," Anakin said through gritted teeth as he sorted through various scrap pieces of metal he had found on the _Tantive IV._ "Just… don't do it all the time, all right?"

From somewhere across the room, Padmé laughed lightly. Anakin shot her a glare.

"What?"

"You and the droids," she said, smiling. "You should let them be themselves once in a while."

Anakin glanced at R2-D2. "If I did that we could be in some serious trouble," he muttered.

R2 beeped angrily, sounding outraged.

C-3PO flailed an arm in the astromech droid's direction, meaning to bag his dome, but he missed and fell over sideways.

"That wasn't very nice, Artoo!"

Anakin folded his arms and raised an eyebrow in his droid's direction. He was having difficultly controlling his laughter – C-3PO looked very ridiculous and helpless without legs, which had been blasted off by clone troopers when they had invaded Padmé's suite. Anakin had only gotten around to repairing him now, and 3PO was almost too thrilled by the fact.

Sometimes Anakin had to wonder how 3PO had gotten so prissy. He supposed it really was his fault – after all, he had built the droid and programmed him in the first place. It was both an annoying and endearing trait, and although Anakin had toyed with the idea of changing him, he couldn't bear to let himself do that. To change 3PO seemed wrong, for some reason.

"All right," Anakin said, selecting the pieces he was going to use to repair the protocol droid. "I hope you don't mind having two silver legs, Threepio. This is all I've got."

"Oh, I'm perfectly fine with it, sir—"

"Oh, shut up," Anakin grumbled as he sat down to repair his droid.

Padmé stifled a chuckle. Anakin glanced in her direction.

"What?!"

"Nothing, dear," she said as she walked slowly across the room.

Anakin couldn't help bust notice how much her slow gait resembled a waddle. It was his turn to laugh.

Padmé frowned and crossed her arms. "What?"

"You're waddling," he said.

Padmé rolled her eyes. "If you don't like it," she replied acidly, "blame yourself."

"Padmé—"

She cut him off with a quick kiss and then sat down beside him. "Something's bothering you, Ani," she said quietly. "Don't try to hide it."

He sighed and set his hydrospanner aside. "It's everything… sometimes I feel like just running away."

Padmé lifted her chin. "Now, there's a pleasant thought," she said as she entwined her fingers around one of his hands. "Let's go to Naboo. And leave everything behind."

"Raise our family…"

"And leave the Galaxy to sort itself out." There was a hard edge to her voice. Anakin knew that she was thinking the same thing as him. While it was nice to fantasize, doing what they dreamed of would only make the situation worse.

"The Galaxy won't sort itself out," Anakin whispered. He stroked her hair absent-mindedly with his free hand. "Not with Palpatine there…"

"But we will _fight_ him, Ani," Padmé said, leaning her head against his chest. "We will fight to restore peace to the Galaxy. Palpatine may have the power, but we have our friends and, more importantly, _we_ have each other. That should be enough. Our friends will be always be there."

"Friends…" Anakin closed his eyes. Memories of the events on Coruscant – the destruction of the Jedi Temple, his duel with Palpatine – flashed before his eyes. He felt a flash of anger that was soon replaced with an empty feeling that he couldn't describe. "I stopped trusting friends several days ago."

"What do you mean?"

Her hand on his and the soft flowery scent of her hair made him feel at peace.

"The man I thought was my best friend turned out to be a manipulative Sith Lord who has fooled an entire Galaxy," Anakin murmured. "Once I trusted Palpatine with my life. Now he's a mortal enemy. An enemy that I'm going to have to fight one day. I want to hate him – something inside me is telling me that I _need_ to hate him – but for some reason, I can't. When I fought him before all I could feel was shock and pain. If I have to fight him again… I don't know if I could do it." He sighed and opened his eyes, looking down at his wife. "The worst part is that I know he's not going to rest until he has complete control over everything. Including me. I'm going to have to fight him, and I'm going to have to kill him – it's the only way to stop him. It's like the survival instinct of the krayt dragons on Tatooine. Hunt and kill… or be hunted and killed."

"Oh, Ani…" Padmé's brow furrowed. "Nothing is ever easy. Especially not this. But I'm here for you. As is everyone else." She kissed him lightly. "I'll always be here for you. We _will_ get through this. I promise."

"I don't know if I can fight him, Padmé," Anakin whispered. His voice was hollow.

"When the time comes," she replied, "you'll make the right choice. You're stronger than you think, Anakin." She stood up slowly. "Come on – I think you need some rest. You're still exhausted from what happened on Coruscant."

Anakin took her hand and smiled briefly. "I suppose so."

"Do you understand what's going on?" C-3PO asked R2-D2 as Anakin and Padmé made their way out of the room.

R2 merely beeped.

"That's what I thought," 3PO said. "Sometimes I feel like there's a whole world out there that I cannot possibly understand." He glanced down at his unrepaired body. "I just hope Master Anakin comes back to put my legs on." His voice was as mournful as his synthesizers could make it.

* * *

When morning came to Shanthral, Jaina and Obi-Wan were standing on the edges of the forest, prepared to leave the Shanthrai village and return to the human colony. The Shanthrai had solemnly bid them farewell, and they were almost ready to leave. There was only one Shanthrai left to say a final goodbye, and that was Kanthrai.

She stood in the deep grass of the glade, her expression grimly calm.

_Jaina, do not forget what I told you,_ she said.

"I won't," Jaina replied. "I promise." She bit her lower lip. "Look, Kanthrai – I know that the Sith Lord or whoever he was is gone from Shanthral right now, but he could come back at any moment. And after what he did to his people, are you sure you're safe here?"

_I will not go off-world, if that is what you are implying,_ Kanthrai said, her tone serious. _This is my home. I will not abandon it. _

"But—"

_I am as safe here as I will ever be._

"Are you sure?"

_I am certain. _

"Then, I guess I'll say goodbye." Jaina smiled tightly at her friend.

_Yes. Do not forget us here, Jedi Solo._

"Maybe I'll come back some day," Jaina replied.

Kanthrai laughed. "Shan-perhaps so-thrai," she said, finally speaking aloud. She turned and looked at Obi-Wan. "Shan-a final farewell to you too, Master Jedi-thrai," she said.

Obi-Wan did not understand the words, but her understood the tone. "Thank you, Kanthrai," he said. "Jaina, we need to go."

"Yes," she said. She turned and walked to the edge of the glade, glancing one last time over her shoulder. She raised a hand in farewell at Kanthrai. The Shanthra nodded briefly once, and then Jaina and Obi-Wan hiked, once again, into the forest.


	32. Reunion

**CHAPTER XXXII**

**Reunion**

"And you're sure the threat is gone?"

"I did not say that, Master Quon," Obi-Wan said. "I said that it is gone _for now._ Not indefinitely. I would stay on guard. You do not know when this man—"

"—thing," Quon interrupted darkly.

"—will return," Obi-Wan finished.

Jaina and Obi-Wan had returned to the settler village of Shanthral. Upon their arrival, she and Obi-Wan had preceded on to report their findings to Master Quon. After telling him the story of what had happened in the forest – but leaving out some important details that Jaina felt the little man did not need to know, such as the fact that their adversary was a Sith Lord – Jaina and Obi-Wan were entreated to Quon's repeated attempts at convincing them to stay on Shanthral as "guardians."

Both Jaina and Obi-Wan were too tired to listen and the dire need to return to Coruscant as quickly as possible and discover what had happened put some strain on the conversation. Jaina wished that Quon could be just as accepting of the facts as the Shanthrai had been.

"But how will we know when he does return?" Quon demanded, wringing his hands. "And if he does, what shall we do to combat him? I beg you –"

"Please, don't," Jaina interrupted. "We've had enough, Master Quon. It is time for us to leave. We've averted the danger for now, but we must return to Coruscant. There's nothing else we can do. I'm sorry, but Master Kenobi and I can't stay here forever—"

"But, you don't understand, you—"

"All right!" Obi-Wan held up his hands for silence. "That's enough. Master Quon, you are, for the time being, safe from any danger. The Shanthrai are fine. They will slowly recover from their ordeal…"

Jaina waited, forcing herself to be quiet, while Obi-Wan convinced Quon that they were no longer needed on Shanthral. The man was very good at convincing others to go along with what he planned, Jaina had to admit. A negotiator, and a very high quality one at that.

Finally, they were able to return to their ship and set about getting ready to leave for Coruscant. Jaina had just settled herself down on the pilot's chair when Obi-Wan said something to her.

"Jaina, we have an incoming message from the _Tantive IV."_

"The what?!" Jaina gasped.

_Tantive IV._ That had been her mother's ship when she had been young and Alderaan still existed.

"Bail Organa's ship," Obi-Wan continued. "Yes, I know. I'm surprised as you are."

_Bail Organa…_

Her mother's foster-father.

"Let the message through," Jaina said. "Maybe he knows what happened."

Obi-Wan tapped the correct code and soon a very familiar voice was filling the cabin.

Jaina felt like her heart had stopped beating. Shock and relief washed over her as she pressed her hand tightly against her mouth. She felt like either laughing or screaming, but did neither.

"Jaina?" Kyp's voice crackled through the comm. "Where are you?"

_Thank the Force, thank the Force!_ her thoughts cried. After everything, after every single despairing thought that had crossed her mind after she felt the hundreds of deaths through the Force, he was still alive.

_I should have known,_ she thought. _Of course he'd still be alive. What was I thinking?_

"We're still on the planet," Jaina replied finally, her voice muffled.

"Good. We're staying in orbit; come up as soon as possible, we'll let you on board. Something's happened."

"I know," Jaina whispered.

"The clones attacked the Jedi."

"WHAT?!"

"I'll explain as soon as I see you," Kyp said. "We shouldn't keep this line open too long. Come as soon as possible."

"We're coming now."

"Right. I'll see you onboard."

He finished speaking and closed the line.

Jaina turned to Obi-Wan. "We better get going."

* * *

It did not take long for Jaina and Obi-Wan to reach the Alderaanian Senator's ship, and as soon as they came onboard, they were met by a little welcoming committee that consisted of Kyp, Yoda, a dark-haired man she assumed was Bail Organa, Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker.

As soon as she came down the ramp and saw her grandfather, Jaina froze. She stared at him, unable to quite believe what she was seeing. He was here. No Vader. Anakin Skywalker was still himself. He hadn't turned.

Shock and relief welled up in her. She felt elated – she wanted to run somewhere and shout her joy for all to here, but she suddenly she couldn't move. She stared at Anakin for a moment, and then her gaze passed him and fell on Kyp. She regained control of her muscles; suddenly, she was catapulting herself across the space between them and she threw herself into his arms, almost knocking him over.

"Whoa, Jaina!"

She held on to him tightly. "I thought you were dead!" she breathed. "When I felt that tremor in the Force—"

"Hey, that's almost insulting, you know," he said, embracing her. "I don't die that easily." He drew away, cocking an eyebrow as he looked her up and down. "What happened to you? You're a mess."

Jaina pulled a stray leave out of the tangled mess that was her hair and glanced at the mud still clinging to her boots.

"That wasn't _my_ fault," she retaliated. "Shanthral's one big forest, you know." She frowned as she looked him up and down properly for the first time. He looked off-balance; he was putting more weight on one leg than on the other. His face was bruised and the palms of his hands were bandaged.

"Anyways, who cares about me?" she continued. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Nothing much—"

"Nothing much?! You're injured!" Suddenly, she felt quite furious with him. She had spent several days not knowing whether he was alive or not, and now that she knew that he was alive, she also discovered that he had managed to injure himself. Again.

"Every time I so much as turn around, you've got yourself another—"

"Oh, glad to know that Shanthral hasn't had much of an effect on you!" Kyp interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Jaina, honestly, it's good to see you again, but that's pushing it a little bit—"

"What?" she exclaimed. "Okay, look, if you just—"

"Jaina, hush," Obi-Wan said tiredly, cutting off her tirade.

Jaina glared at him as Kyp mouthed a silent thank you. She saw Anakin and Padmé looking at her and Kyp with odd expressions on their faces; they glanced at each other and traded bewildered looks.

"Time for personal arguments, this is not," Yoda said solemnly. "Come to pass, dark events have, and echo with their passing, the Galaxy still does."

"You'll need to inform us on that," Obi-Wan was saying to Bail Organa. "Immediately. But thank you, Senator, for your hospitality."

"It is the best I can do," the Alderaanian Senator said. "After everything that happened on Coruscant…" He shook his head and glanced at Jaina. "I'm assuming you are Jaina Solo, then?" he said.

Jaina nodded curtly as she felt the odd, queasy feeling she had begun to associate with meeting people her parents had spoken of – people who were, in her time, dead and gone. She didn't trust herself to speak. She was being spoken to by her mother's foster-father, a man whom her mother had spoken of very highly on many occasions, a man who had died a martyr on Alderaan when the Death Star had destroyed the beautiful planet.

"Master Yoda – Anakin," Obi-Wan said quickly, interrupting Jaina's thoughts, "_what_ happened?"

Jaina watched as Anakin traded looks with Kyp and Yoda.

"Fallen, the Jedi Order has," Yoda said quietly.

"_What?" _Obi-Wan's mouth opened in shock.

Jaina reeled. _Fallen?_ She didn't even want to comprehend what _that_ meant. She glanced at Kyp, but he wasn't looking in her direction. _Fallen…_ the word boded ill. She could feel her stomach tighten – combined with what she had felt through the Force on Shanthral, the word "fallen" could only mean one thing.

"Come," Bail Organa said, "let us go someplace more comfortable than a docking bay. It seems we have much to discuss."

There was a murmur of agreement and the group walked away from the docking bay.

The _Tantive IV_ had such pristinely white halls that Jaina felt like she was making it dirty just by walking along the corridor. By the time they approached the stateroom suite, Jaina knew that she had left a trail of mud and debris behind her. She, however, did not care. There was too much going on for her to care about a little bit of mud. Jaina trailed at the end of the line, stomping after everyone else, feeling a confused mixture of emotions. Kyp kept glancing over his shoulder at her. Every time he looked at her, his expression changed from curious to exasperated and back again.

Jaina merely glared back at him.

She was more than relieved to see him, and that was part of the problem. She was _happy_ to see him, but she knew he was at least partially responsible for the disaster that she was going to learn about in the next few minutes. For that, she held him in contempt. Something he had done – or hadn't done – had caused that painful echo she had felt in the Force. Kyp was related to it, and the problem was that she _knew_ it was bad.

She just hoped that it wasn't as bad as she thought it was.

_The Jedi Order has fallen._

It couldn't be true.

When Bail Organa ushered them into the stateroom suite, Jaina emotions were so complex and muddled that she felt like screaming. Instead, she sat down at the opposite side table from Kyp. She knew that the act was juvenile, but she couldn't bear to bring herself to admit it. She was thoroughly irate with him and she wasn't entirely sure why.

"All right," Obi-Wan said. "What's going on? What did you mean by the Jedi Order falling?"

"It's my fault," Anakin said dully.

"Anakin, it's _not_ your fault," Padmé interrupted crisply. "Without you, none of us would be here right now. Certainly not me, and would you forgive yourself if the clones had killed me?"

"I—"

"No, you wouldn't have."

"Clones?" Jaina exclaimed, her mind suddenly bringing her into the present. "What clones?" She knew exactly what clones they were, but from what Padmé had said, those clones had tried to kill her. And there was only one person who could order them to do that: Palpatine.

She shivered. It had been a double-pronged attack, and she hadn't even known about it. On one hand, it had been aimed at Anakin, but it had also aimed at _her._ If Padmé had died… Jaina didn't know where she would be.

"The clone troopers," Yoda informed her. "Ordered to assassinate Senator Amidala, they were."

"What?" Obi-Wan sounded dumbfounded. "By whom? The clones are loyal to us!"

"Yes, but it's not _us_ who's loyal anymore," Bail said solemnly.

Obi-Wan frowned. "What do you mean?"

Jaina looked at Kyp, who was trying to avoid her gaze. His green eyes flickered to Anakin instead.

"Anakin," he said, "you might as well start at the beginning."

Anakin ran a hand through his hair. "I suppose," he said quietly. "I… Obi-Wan, you remember the time when you told me that Palpatine might be under the influence of a Sith Lord?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan replied. "I do."

Anakin pursed his lips and hesitated. "Palpatine _is_ the Sith Lord."

"I know," Obi-Wan said.

Jaina winced and shot him a fiery look.

_Not now! _she thought. _Not now. Now is the wrong time, Anakin would think you'd gone insane… Unless Kyp already told him. _

She looked at Kyp and from his expression, she knew that he hadn't told Anakin their secret.

Obi-Wan looked at her and smiled apologetically.

"What…?" Anakin looked taken aback. "How do you—?"

"We discovered some critical information on Shanthral," Obi-Wan said. "And–"

"Oh," Anakin said, cutting his friend off. He blinked, still looking dumbfounded.

"Anakin, this can wait," Padmé said patiently. "Finish the story; they need to know." She reached out and covered his hands, which were resting on the table, with her own.

Anakin sighed heavily. "I… went to confront him… and he issued an attack on the Jedi Temple. The Jedi…" His voice faded.

"Dead, they are," Yoda said grimly. "But time to mourn, we have not. Turned the Galaxy against the Jedi, he has. Made the Republic into an Empire, he has. Emperor Palpatine, he is now known as."

"And the Senate approved of it," Padmé finished.

Obi-Wan looked horrified. "But… _why? _How?"

"It was his plan all along," Anakin said bleakly. "I know it. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't."

"And the clones?"

"They were following his orders," Anakin answered through gritted teeth.

Jaina raised a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. _Damn it! _Things were turning out the same as before. Palpatine had the upper hand! The Empire had been formed. They were fugitives now; the entire Galaxy would be looking for them. Nowhere was safe. How were they supposed to get close enough to Palpatine now to have Anakin kill him? It was impossible. How could things have gotten so out of hand?

"Anakin, I'm _safe,"_ Padmé was saying, her voice firm. "What's happened is past, don't keep chewing yourself up because of it. I'm safe, the babies are safe. Nothing is going to harm us again."

"I suppose," Anakin murmured.

It seemed to Jaina as though Padmé did not care that there were others around as she said those words. Obi-Wan and Bail both heard and the connection was too easy to make.

They stared in amazement.

"Anakin…?" Obi-Wan's voice trailed off.

"Padmé?" Bail asked.

"Strange, this is," Yoda said, his voice whimsical, "for this great secret to be revealed at such a time."

Jaina glanced at Kyp. She saw him roll his eyes.

"You… you… you…" Obi-Wan was spluttering now. He didn't look angry, but he was shocked enough. "You—"

"We're married, Obi-Wan," Padmé said, interrupting him, "and I'm carrying Anakin's children. There's nothing for us to hide now, considering the situation. You need to know."

"Padmé!" Anakin exclaimed. "I thought we would decide _together_ when to tell people!"

Padmé smiled slightly. "We _are_ together, Ani."

Anakin grimaced. "That's not what I meant."

"How…" Obi-Wan still seemed to have trouble speaking. "How long?" His voice was weak.

"Since the beginning of the Clone Wars," Anakin said.

The conversation began to disintegrate after that. Both Obi-Wan and Bail seemed too surprised to acknowledge anything Anakin or Padmé said, and whatever the couple _did_ say seemed to go right over their heads.

Yoda merely watched with amusement twinkling in his eyes.

"You're having twins?"

"Yes," Padmé and Anakin said simultaneously.

"Is there a problem?" Anakin added.

"A problem? I'll tell you the problem, Anakin, your behaviour was completely irrational! I'm still trying to figure out how I missed all the signs! If I'd been more perceptive –"

"Master, stop haranguing yourself, it's over. It's done. We have more important things to deal with than the fact that I'm a married Jedi."

"But—"

At that point, Jaina stood up pointedly and left the suite. She could leave them to their arguing, their banter. Obi-Wan would leave the subject alone until the shock had settled in. She didn't want to stay and listen to all that.

Besides, she had other things on her mind.

Disaster… the entire thing had turned into a disaster! She _should _have stayed on Coruscant. In her absence, an Empire had risen and many Jedi had been killed by the clones. The Jedi Order had fallen! Hadn't that been one of the things they were supposed to have prevented? If only she had been there, she would have been able to prevent any of this from happening!

And on top of everything, there was that mysterious Sith Lord who had appeared on Shanthral… who knew how he tied into this dangerous web of events?

"Jaina!"

Jaina stopped and turned around. Kyp was running towards her.

"Hey," she said, though her tone was exasperated. "Didn't want to listen to them argue?"

"Not particularly," Kyp said.

Jaina nodded and folded her arms. "What really happened on Coruscant, Kyp?" she asked. "Anakin barely said anything. And you were there. What went wrong?"

Kyp ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know," he said. "That's the problem. We were so close to getting him, too. So close. Anakin and I went to his office and… well, there was a duel."

"And?" Jaina asked.

"And Anakin almost won – until Palpatine jumped out a window."

Jaina stared blankly at him.

"He jumped… out a _window?"_

"Yeah."

Jaina could feel frustration rising. "And you did _nothing?"_

"I couldn't!"

"Kyp," Jaina snapped, "you're one of the best fighters I know. Between you and Anakin, you should have been able to do _something._ At least stop him from jumping out a kriffing window. How stupid is that?"

"Jaina, you've fought him yourself, you know what he's like!"

"Yes, but...!" Jaina raised her hands. She could feel her face flushing as it usually did when she got frustrated. "You stupid _nerf-herder._ I should never have let you convince me to go off to Shanthral with Obi-Wan. I should never have let you talk me into abandoning my priorities. The success of this mission dictates the fate of the Galaxy, or have you forgotten that?"

Kyp's eyes widened furiously. "Use your head, Jaina! I haven't forgotten. I've spent a lot of energy making sure Anakin stayed alive, that's why I went with him to confront Palpatine in the first place. There was _nothing_ I could do! You're lucky I was there to do what I did. I almost died – several times – when the Temple was attacked. You want to know why I'm limping? You were really concerned about that earlier!"

Jaina's eyes flashed. "No!" she spat, ignoring the pain that was flaring up from her bruised torso. "I _don't_ want to know, as a matter of fact. If you hadn't sent me away in the first place, then none of this would have happened!"

"What—?" Kyp stared at her. "Sithspit, Jaina, since when is everything suddenly _my_ fault. You really had no choice about leaving, and whether or not you were there, I doubt it really mattered. What's happened is in the past and I don't that either of us could have done much about it. It's gotten out of our hands."

"Really? So we're just suppose to _let_ the Jedi Order get obliterated?"

He grabbed her arm, his eyes blazing. "Listen," he hissed, "I've done more than my share already. I was _there_ when Anakin went to attack Palpatine in the Chancellor's office. I saw what happened at the Jedi Temple. I went with Anakin to save Padmé because I _knew _what would happen to you if she died before your mother is born! You want to blame this all on me? Fine. Go ahead, but just remember that I did everything I could." He was speaking so harshly that he was spitting in her face.

Jaina lifted her chin. "Yeah, well –"

"And just remember this as well," Kyp interrupted. "Who was it who saved your life when Palpatine went after you? Who was it that pulled you back from the living nightmares?"

Jaina wrenched her arm out of his grasp and stepped back several paces. She was breathing so hard her ribs hurt. There was a lump in her throat that she couldn't seem to get rid of and she wasn't sure if she wanted to yell or cry. She knew he was right. Of course he was right! He _had _done all he could. Jaina knew that her anger was ridiculous, but that knowledge only fueled her uncontrollable temper. She drew herself up to her full height and stared him straight in the eye.

"Just… just—!" She paused and realized that she had lost the momentum of her speech. She had forgotten why she was angry. "Oh, kriff it all." She turned and walked away down the hall.

Kyp didn't follow her. After a moment, Jaina wished that he had.

What was wrong with her?

* * *

Three quarters of an hour later, Kyp was pacing up and down the halls of the _Tantive IV_, uncertain of what to do. He was furious with himself, furious with Jaina – _why_ did she have a habit of exploding whenever things went wrong? She was too hotheaded. Always boiling with anger and frustration, if he didn't know better, he would have thought _she_ was the one who was supposed to fall to the Dark side, not Anakin.

And yet, despite all her faults and her lose grip on her emotions, Jaina had only been close to the brink of darkness once in her life.

Kyp tried to dismiss the fact that _he_ had been the one who had pulled her back from the edge.

He needed to talk to her. They couldn't spend the rest of their days in this time working separately. Kyp knew that eventually they would sort things out – but he felt that _he_ should be the one to find Jaina and talk to her – apologize, even, if it helped to quench her rage. In her mind, many of the things that had come to pass probably _looked_ as though they were his fault. He couldn't blame her. She knew he knew what was going to happen to the Jedi, what Palpatine was bound to attempt. Jaina probably figured that with that knowledge, he could have prevented anything.

Kyp thought differently. Somehow, he knew that no matter what he could have done, nothing could have prevented this disaster from occurring.

None of that mattered now. Anakin was still alive and he hadn't turned to the Dark side. That was the important thing. And Padmé – Padmé was alive, too. That was just as important as keeping Anakin from the Dark side. If she died, Leia and Luke would die too, and then what would happen to Jaina? It was a dangerous Galaxy out there. He had to know that Jaina's future was secure.

He added that to the number of things he needed to tell her.

Finally making up his mind, Kyp went off in search of Jaina. It did not take long to find her; the trail from her muddy boots was all over the pristine white floors of the _Tantive IV._ The trail eventually ended up in the main living quarters of the ship. Kyp opened the door that Jaina's muddy trail disappeared behind and stepped through into the next room, intent on having a solid conversation with her.

He immediately knew that this was not a good time. The warm steam was the first indication. The sound of running water was the second.

Kyp had wandered into a refresher, and Jaina, quite clearly, was taking a shower. Her torn and muddied clothes, tangled with leaves and twigs, were piled on the floor while clean clothes were laid out on the white counters that lined the side of one wall. Kyp froze in place.

"I know you're there, Kyp," Jaina called, her voice coming from behind the opaque white shower stall door.

"I… I'll come back later." He knew that his face was flushed. He turned to leave.

"No," she said. "You can stay."

Kyp wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Um…"

"Oh, don't be so pathetic," Jaina snapped. "There's a stall door between me and you."

"Um… right."

He heard her sigh exasperatedly.

Kyp leaned against one wall and ran a hand through his hair. How to begin? The sound of running water was interrupting the flow of his thoughts. "You know, Jaina," he began hesitantly.

"Hmm?"

"I'm… sorry," he said slowly, "for whatever it is you blame me for. But I swear I did all I could."

"Hmm." She had grunted. Bad sign. She clearly wasn't thrilled with what he was saying.

"Okay, you don't believe me there…" He looked up at the ceiling. It was white, too. Why were Alderaanians so obsessed with _white? _It wasn't even a proper colour.

"I believe you," Jaina said.

"You do?"

"Yes," she said. "And I'm sorry, Kyp. I am. Really. I shouldn't have said that. But… you still could have… oh, I don't know!"

"Still could have what?"

Jaina didn't answer. The water stopped running.

"You still could have done something," she said quietly.

Silence. Then—

"Could you pass me a towel?"

"Oh," Kyp said. "Um…" He looked around the room, spotted a large white towel folded on one of the counters. He picked it up and tossed it over the top of the shower before retreating backwards several paces.

"Thank you," Jaina's voice murmured.

There was a fain rustling sound and then the opaque stall door swung open and Jaina emerged, the large white towel wrapped tightly around her body. Her hair was soaking wet and water droplets covered her arms. Steam – the remnants of her hot shower – poured out from the stall.

It was suddenly very warm in the refresher.

Kyp looked at her; her face was flushed from the heat of the shower and water droplets still clung to her cheeks and forehead. Her wet hair appeared black and was tangled and matted against the side of her neck.

Wrapped in her towel with steam swirling around her, she looked for all she was worth like a Goddess. A very impudent, hot-tempered Goddess, but still…

Kyp tried to get a hold of his whirling thoughts.

"Um…" He cleared his throat. "Is there anything else you argue about while we're at it?"

Jaina winced and looked away. "Oh stars… Look, Kyp." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. It's just everything that's been going on – after what we found on Shanthral, I didn't take listening to what happened on Coruscant very well. I guess I just thought that everything would be all right if you were there, but it wasn't. You always think of something, no matter what. You're the king of improvisation. I think you just kind of caught me… off-guard. I was… _expecting_ you to do something."

"That's some pretty high standard you must have of me, huh."

Jaina combed her fingers through her wet hair. "Yeah," she said, looking away. "Yeah, I suppose so. Too high, I guess. You're not infallible. I should have known better. I'm sorry." She sighed. "I guess it's just… for a moment – for quite a long moment, actually – I thought you were dead. On Shanthral, when I felt all those deaths, and… oh, what the hell am I saying?" She made a face. "I just guess I was so relieved to see you alive that combined with knowing what actually happened on Coruscant, I don't know what to think anymore. Or something like that." She paused. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too."

She looked back at him. "Really?" she asked. She took a step forwards. "What for?"

"For bringing you to the end of your wits every single day you're with me," Kyp said. He straightened himself so that he was no longer leaning against the wall.

Jaina raised an eyebrow. "You think you do that?" she asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Really?" She looked genuinely perplexed.

"Is there any other reason for yelling at me all the time?" he asked.

Her brow furrowed for a moment and then she looked up at him. "Do I do that?"

"Please tell me you _do_ notice."

Her cheeks flushed. "Yeah… I did. Do. I mean, yeah, I do notice."

"Why, then?"

Jaina glanced away. A little smile graced her lips. "I honestly don't know."

"You do."

She turned back to him and looked him straight in the face. Her expression was amused.

"You do know, Jaina," Kyp said.

"I…" She cocked her head to the side. "I… well, maybe…"

"Tell me."

She was quite close to him now, her face inches away from his. They were speaking in lowered voices now and everything seemed much too hot. Whether it was really from the steam formed by Jaina's shower or if it was from something else, Kyp didn't know.

"Tell me," he insisted.

"I think," she began, lifting her chin.

"You think…?"

"That I can't help getting you riled up."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I do." She lowered her eyes, her eyelashes concealing them from his gaze. He could see the water droplets from her shower still clinging to them. "Must be the way our personalities click."

He laughed. She sounded ridiculous. "Right."

"And also," she continued, "no matter what I say or do, you're always there for me. Some things that I say, I can't imagine anyone wanting to come back to me after I said them."

"Really?"

"Yes," she answered, her eyes flickering back to his. Kyp didn't think he had noticed what a warm brown colour they were. "And I appreciate you for that."

"You do?"

"Yeah," she answered, looking straight at him and smiling. "I do. You're a good friend. Thank you. I promise I'll try to be better next time something comes up."

"Here's hoping that something _doesn't_ come up," Kyp said under his breath.

Jaina caught that and looked away, an unreadable expression on her face. "I doubt it," she murmured. "There's always going to be a next time." She paused for a moment, and seemed to notice for the first time how close they were. She retreated several steps back, her cheeks flushed a bright red. She held up her hands. "Okay, total invasion of personal space going on there."

"What?"

Jaina rolled her eyes and coughed pointedly; she indicated her towel with one hand.

"Oh," Kyp said. "Right."

Different rules applied when she was dressed in a towel.

"It would be much appreciated that you _leave,"_ she said.

"It would be much appreciated that you don't stand around in a steamy 'fresher wearing nothing but a towel," Kyp countered.

Jaina sighed and rolled her eyes. "Out Durron," she ordered, gesturing towards the door with one finger. "I need to get dressed."

"That would be an _excellent_ idea," he snapped, walking towards the door.

"And next time, would you _knock _before entering?" Jaina called after him.

Kyp decided not to respond to that.


	33. Truths

**CHAPTER XXXIII**

**Truths**

Initially, it took Jaina three or four days to adjust to her new situation, but even when she thought she had everything figured out, she still wasn't used to it. Over the days, there were several things that gnawed at her mind, ranging from the horrid to the downright confusing.

First of all, there was the fact that the Empire had been formed and she was on the run with the rest of the Jedi, a declared fugitive. That was fine. She could deal with it. It wasn't the first time she had been on the run. And besides – Anakin was alive and he was still a Jedi. That was what mattered. The rest she could put behind her, no matter how terrible the situation was. Unfortunately, she could never quite forget the fact that hundreds of Jedi had died that day and it was – indirectly – her fault. She wasn't prepared to forgive herself for that, no matter how much she tried to tell herself that she wasn't responsible for the Jedi's deaths.

Secondly, Kyp had neglected to tell her about the younglings. Jaina was sure he had been planning on getting around to it, but she had been utterly surprised when she had walked into one of the large, open rooms in the _Tantive IV_ and found the group of nearly a dozen children all sitting in a circle playing some game that they had made up.

Jaina remembered with stark clarity walking into that room and watching the game progress before the children had noticed her standing there in wonder. The game was relatively simple; one child was walking around the circle, tapping each youngling in turn on the head and saying _"Bantha." _After this progressed for a time of the child's own discretion, the youngling would then tap a specific child on the head and shout _"Mynock!"_ The child who had been tapped then sprang to his or her feet and chased after the youngling who had identified him or her. They raced around the circle until the first child reached his or her own spot in the circle. If the child was tagged before he or she sat down, then the youngling would be forced to sit in the centre of the circle and the game would continue on.

"_Bantha, bantha, bantha, bantha… MYNOCK!"_

Jaina had watched with mixed emotions as the children chased each other around the circle. She suddenly wished that she had their ability to push away all the terrible incidents that had happened to her. It was such an easy thing, to be a child. Now that they knew they were protected, they felt safe and secure and were allowed to be _children_ again.

Things weren't so easy for Jaina.

While the younglings had been surprising at first, the fact that they were on board had been adjustable.

However, that had just been the start of Jaina's discoveries.

The third thing that was bothering Jaina was harder to deal with than the Jedi children. After the younglings, there were Scout and Whie. Jaina did not know much about Padawans from this era, but Scout was a handful and Whie went along with everything Scout did. As soon as she met the flame-haired girl, Jaina knew that every moment Scout was around, she was going to have a near-disaster on her hands.

"Hey, you're Jaina Solo, aren't you?" Scout said one day, tagging along after Jaina as she walked down the halls of the _Tantive IV._ Jaina had only just met her, and quite by accident, too. She had been trying to find Obi-Wan in order to speak to him about the problems they now faced, but she had run into Scout and Whie instead.

They would not leave her alone.

"Yeah," Jaina had replied bluntly.

"I've heard that other Jedi – Kyp Durron, I think his name is – mention you," Scout had continued enthusiastically. "Anakin, too. They all seemed a little worried about you before we got to that Shanthally place."

"Right," Jaina had grunted.

"You don't seem very talkative, is everything okay? I know what happened at the Jedi Temple and I know that what the clones did… ugh, it makes me shiver every time I think about it –"

"Scout," Whie had interrupted, "maybe you should slow down a bit."

"What?"

"Give her some space?"

"What?"

Jaina had stopped walking at that point and turned abruptly to the flame-haired Padawan. "Look, Scout," she had said firmly, "I'm busy. I need to find Obi-Wan, so if you'll excuse me –"

"Oh, you're looking for Master Kenobi?" The Padawan's eyes had brightened. "I just saw him; here, I can take you to him!" Then she had seized Jaina's hand and pulled her along down the corridor, Whie trailing after them.

Jaina had a feeling that Scout was going to be responsible for giving her several major headaches.

The Padawans, however, were soon the least of her worries. The incident on Shanthral and its repercussions troubled her. Neither Obi-Wan nor Jaina knew who the Sith Lord was, but whoever he was, they could only hope that he had nothing to do with Palpatine. The first chance she got, Jaina pulled both Obi-Wan and Kyp aside for a much needed talk. If they weren't careful, the events on Shanthral could easily get wrapped into the web of events from Coruscant.

"All right, Jaina," Kyp said once she had the three of them alone where they wouldn't be overheard by Anakin. "You would mind explaining to me what happened on Shanthral? I'm guessing it has something to do with—" He stopped talking abruptly and he looked at her, sending her a questioning look.

"I know you're time travelers, Kyp," Obi-Wan said. "If that's the issue you're trying not to mention."

Kyp barked a laugh. "You figured it out, didn't you?" he asked. "Or did she tell you?"

"No, he figured it out on his own," Jaina said.

"Though once I had the evidence staring me right in the face, it was hard to deny my theory," Obi-Wan said blandly.

"Evidence?" Kyp asked.

"A little incident with a time portal," Jaina explained, "or another wormhole—"

"What?!" Kyp exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Oh, just shut up and listen, would you?" Jaina said.

"Yes, _ma'am,"_ Kyp replied shortly, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Obi-Wan chuckled; Jaina shot him a withering glare and brushed her hair behind her ears.

"All right," she said. "On Shanthral there was… a Sith Lord."

Kyp stared at her. "Oh, you've got to be joking. Please tell me you're joking."

"It wasn't Palpatine—"

"Well, it couldn't be because he was busy trapping me in a time prison, or whatever you want to call them."

"What?!" Jaina's eyes widened. "He trapped you? Why didn't you tell me before?"

Kyp shrugged. "I guess we all have our secrets."

"How did you break out?" Jaina demanded. "When he did it to me –"

"I know," Kyp said. "Anakin did something. Somehow. I don't really understand what happened, but somehow he got me out of there."

"Sorry," Obi-Wan interrupted, "what is this about a _time_ prison?"

Jaina glanced at Kyp and sighed. She turned back to Obi-Wan. "It's a little difficult to explain," she said. "How Palpatine discovered it, I don't know –"

"He told me that he learned it from his master," Kyp said.

Jaina looked at him. "Who was his master?" she exclaimed.

Kyp shrugged. "I don't know. Whoever he was, it doesn't matter. Palpatine killed him. Or something equivalent to that."

Jaina tugged at a lock of hair. "Kyp," she said, "how could it not matter? This could be important! The Sith Lord we met wasn't Palpatine. He could travel through time – he opened up a time portal right in front of us. I saw the vortex and everything before he disappeared and sealed it again. Time travel is a rare art – Augustine told us that before we came here, remember? The Sith Lord we met could be Palpatine's master."

"Jaina, I doubt it," Kyp replied, shaking his head. "Palpatine was confident that he was dead – or disposed of. At any rate, he's gone in a way that he won't be back to bother us."

Jaina folded her arms. "Tell me what Palpatine told you. His _exact _words."

Kyp frowned. "I don't know! He said… well, he said that he disposed of him in his sleep. I asked him if that meant that he killed him and he said 'yes and no.' I couldn't get a straight answer out of him after that."

Jaina rubbed her forehead. "That doesn't make any sense…" She glanced up at him. "Why would Palpatine even trust you with that information? Why bother telling you? What's the point?"

Kyp spread his hands. "Maybe it was to make me think that I was stuck in there forever."

"Hmm… good point."

"If I might interrupt," Obi-Wan said mildly, "you were going to explain what a time prison is."

Jaina smiled apologetically at him. "Sorry," she said. "We got sidetracked. Kyp and I just call it a time prison because we don't really know what else to call it. I suppose it could also be called a mind prison, because physically you're still in the real world but you look… dead. Your mind is locked elsewhere, in a place that doesn't really have any time at all. Just darkness – and your past."

"More darkness for me than anything else," Kyp murmured. "I saw flashes of things that happened in my past, but it was no where near as terrible for me as it was for Jaina."

"I was forced to relieve some of the worst moments of my life and all the various ways they could have played out," Jaina explained.

Obi-Wan ran a hand through his beard. "And Palpatine did this to both of you?" he asked.

"Yes," Jaina said, nodding. "He can attack you at any time, anywhere. And it's not something I would like to experience again. You can't get out, you can't escape when you're locked in there."

"Unless someone manages to free you," Kyp added. "I rescued Jaina; and somehow, Anakin rescued me without doing a thing." He rubbed the side of his neck and shrugged. "I think there are more important things to discuss than time prisons. You were saying about this Sith Lord?"

Jaina caught Obi-Wan's eye.

"He was perhaps the most powerful being I've ever encountered," he said. "I don't know much about time travel, but he used it to escape us after I stabbed him in the back to save Jaina."

"He paralyzed me," Jaina murmured, remembering the fight in vivid detail. "I think it was some kind of trick with the Force. I couldn't move at all. I felt like I was going to die – and I might have if Obi-Wan hadn't acted when he did."

Kyp frowned. "Who _is_ he?" he wondered aloud. "This isn't making any sense, Jaina. It sounds like he might be even stronger than Palpatine, and he is almost invulnerable. Only Anakin can destroy him – what about this other guy?"

"That's what worries me," Jaina said. "He was using the Shanthrai for something. He was killing them, using their life forces for some purpose that I can't even being to understand what it is."

"It was as if he was draining all their energy away," Obi-Wan commented.

"Energy…?" Kyp frowned. "When you put it that way, it's almost as if he needed them to keep something working. As if he was using them for fuel."

Jaina blanched. "That's disgusting. Those are _people _you're talking about_._ Defenseless _people."_

"I never said it was pleasant, Jaina," Kyp replied. "It's a possibility though – you have to admit that."

"But what would it be?" Obi-Wan asked. "This thing that he was trying to keep functioning?"

The three Jedi exchanged looks.

"It's impossible to know right now," Jaina said. "We don't know who he is, what he wants – or even what time period he disappeared off to. He could be anywhere – in the entire history of the Galaxy. We can't even begin to track him down. What are we going to do?"

"There's only one thing we can do," Obi-Wan said heavily. "Forget him. We have to concentrate on the issue at hand – which means stopping Palpatine. He is our main concern and this leads to another main issue." He looked directly at Jaina, then at Kyp. "You have to tell Anakin and Yoda where you come from. Now's the time, if any."

"I think Yoda already knows," Kyp said. "Or, at least, he has an idea of our origins."

"We should have told him earlier," Jaina murmured. "Maybe the Jedi Order could have been saved if he had known—"

"What difference would it have made, Jaina?" Obi-Wan asked. "What is the point of reflecting on what could have been? What's done is done – there's no going back now."

Jaina cracked a smile. "Obi-Wan, that's exactly why we're here. We reflected on what could have been and we're here to change what was done."

Obi-Wan sighed. "And that's the strangest part," he admitted. "I keep having to remind myself that you're tampering with established timelines. At least – established timelines from your past. Or is it my future?"

"Try not to think about it," Kyp advised. "It will only give you a headache."

* * *

Due to everyone's need to recover from their injuries and restore their strength, Kyp, Jaina and Obi-Wan did not have a chance to discuss the issues at hand with their fellows until the _Tantive IV_ came out of hyperspace and went into orbit around the ice-planet of Hoth several days after leaving Shanthral. When Jaina discovered their exact position, she found this a little ominous – Bail Organa, one of the original leaders of the Rebellion, had arrived at the planet where, in Jaina's past, the Rebels had suffered a defeat at the hands of the Empire. However, Jaina had little time to spare on these grim thoughts. Hoth was merely a regrouping point – a place to give them time to sort out their next move.

Which would prove to be more difficult than said.

"I am adamant that we _must_ return to Alderaan," Bail was saying as they sat around the conference table in the stateroom suite. "My wife is oblivious to what has happened here. She needs to know the _truth_ and she needs to know _now."_

"Bail," Padmé said, "think about it logically. We can't go to Alderaan, it's what the Empire expects us to do! We're fugitives. The moment we land, the clones will arrest us."

"The Empire will find that its grip on Alderaan is none too controlled," Bail responded grimly. "My people are loyal to me."

"And you will be putting them in danger by returning there," Padmé said.

Bail sighed and put a hand to his forehead. "Padmé," he said slowly, "why is it that you always find fault with every plan?"

"I'm not finding fault," Padmé replied, "I'm showing you the problems that _may_ arise. Do you want to put your wife's life on the line? Your entire planet's fate?"

Jaina shuddered at these words. If things continued as they were… perhaps Alderaan would meet the same fate it had last time around. Jaina swore silently to herself that she wouldn't let it happen.

She glanced across the table at Obi-Wan and Kyp. Now that they were finally gathered together, it was time to turn their attention to where it was needed. It was time to reveal several truths that the others would need to know if they were going to manage to bring down Palpatine and his new government. Jaina knew what needed to be said, but she couldn't help be a little worried about the prospect of actually _admitting_ that she was a time traveler. She realized that her mouth had become very dry; she glanced at Obi-Wan and he nodded.

"All right," Obi-Wan said, interrupting Bail and Padmé's argument before it could continue, "let's calm down. We need to look at the situation from all sides before we make any more decisions. First, Jaina and I have important information recovered from Shanthral. How this affects the seriousness of the Galactic situation, we don't know. This information is more for the benefit of the Jedi than you, Bail, or you, Padmé, but you may hear it if you wish. There can be no secrets between us now; we can't afford it."

"Go ahead, Obi-Wan," Anakin said. "Let's hear this. What happened?"

Jaina let Obi-Wan do most of the talking as he described the situation on Shanthral in detail. He covered how the Shanthrai had been abducted and how anyone who had gone out in search for them had not returned. After giving a brief summary of their experience traversing the forests of Shanthral and how they had been chased up the waterfall and along the shoreline by some unknown creature, Obi-Wan finally reached the most important part of the tale – the events that transpired in the cavern.

"_What?!"_ Anakin exclaimed after Obi-Wan had described what he and Jaina had found.

Bail was frowning. "I don't understand."

Padmé had blanched. "All of them were dead? All the Shanthrai?" She gazed from Obi-Wan's face to Jaina's and back again. "I can't believe it."

"It's true," Jaina said grimly. "All of them."

"Grim," Yoda said. "Grim, these events are. Disturbing, what these lives were used for."

"Used for?" Anakin's brow furrowed. "Master Yoda, how can their lives _be used?"_

"Unravel the thoughts of a Sith Lord, one cannot," Yoda said firmly. "An experiment, this was."

"A Sith _Lord?"_ Anakin exclaimed. "Wait, wait, wait… how did we get from Shanthrai being abducted to _Sith Lords?"_

Jaina closed her eyes. "Anakin, there was a Sith Lord on Shanthral," she said.

"What?!" Anakin exclaimed, half rising out of his seat.

"Ani," Padmé said calmly, reaching for his hand, "calm down and hear them out or we'll never get through this."

Anakin managed to look slightly embarrassed as he sat back down.

Obi-Wan cleared his throat and continued on, telling their friends quickly what had happened in the cavern. He had just begun to describe the battle that had commenced, when Anakin interrupted again.

"But… it can't have been Sidious, could it? It doesn't make any sense! He was on Coruscant!"

"It wasn't Sidious," Jaina said. "It was someone else."

Anakin's face paled. _"Two?"_ he exclaimed. "Oh… please tell me you're kidding. Please. This is just one big joke." His eyes flashed to Kyp. "Durron – what do you think of this? Could Sidious have an apprentice?"

"I don't think so," Kyp replied, frowning. "Jaina and Obi-Wan have already told me what happened, and I think the two are unrelated. They have to be."

Jaina nodded. "That's true. That man… that _Sith Lord_ was much more powerful than Palpatine ever could be."

"How so?" Anakin demanded. "Sidious is the most powerful Sith Lord and there's only ever two of them—"

"He can control time," Jaina interrupted, speaking through gritted teeth.

Anakin blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Jaina said. _"He can control time._ He can travel _through _time. He's the most powerful Sith Lord I've ever met, even more powerful than Palpatine – and I've fought him before. This one can travel through time—"

"—and more dangerous an enemy than any other, he is," Yoda interrupted with a bang of his gimer stick. "A lost dark art, time travel is. Unheard of. Unnatural. Those who open the void, those who command its energies… darkness deeper than ever, now faces us."

There was silence.

"Master Yoda," Bail said slowly, "I admit I do not know much about the ways of the Force, but time travel is _impossible. _It isn't logical!"

"Quick you are to dismiss that in which you cannot believe, Senator Organa," Yoda answered. "Hmph. Changes, it does not, the fact that exist, time travel does."

"How do you know?" Anakin inquired. "I mean – time travel? Give me a break!"

"Hmph! When nine-hundred years you reach," Yoda said, "seen many things, you will have."

Jaina sighed. This conversation had taken an interesting, but dangerous, direction. And Yoda… Yoda _knew_ something. That was clear. Jaina remembered the assumptions Kyp had made weeks ago about Yoda. Here was the proof they needed.

She glanced at Kyp and then at Obi-Wan. They both shrugged.

"What is it, Jaina?" Padmé asked. "You're acting very edgy."

Jaina smiled bleakly. "Okay… how best to explain this… There's something that you ought to know. Anakin, I am not lying when I said that the Sith Lord can control time. Time travel is possible, and you've already met three time travelers."

Anakin stared at her. His expression became incredulous as revelation dawned on him. "Oh, you have got to be kidding –"

"I'm not."

He glanced at Kyp. "Durron?"

"Sorry," he said.

"Anakin," Padmé murmured, "what's going on?"

Anakin didn't answer her. "Who's the third one, then?" he exclaimed.

"Haven't you guessed?" Jaina said.

"No!" Anakin snapped impudently, folding his arms.

"Would you be surprised if I said that Palpatine is the third time traveler?" Jaina asked.

"What?!" Anakin passed a hand across his face. "Are you trying to tell me that… no. No, no, no… Seriously?" He frowned. "Wait." He turned to Kyp. "You told me that you'd fought Palpatine before. He's from your time, isn't he? You brought him here, or something!"

"Palpatine is from your timeframe," Jaina said coldly. "He wasn't supposed to be in _ours._"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Anakin held up a hand. "Let me get this straight. You're telling me that Palpatine is from _here_, but he shows up in _your_ time and you follow him back here to do… get revenge or something along the lines of that?"

Jaina's eyes flattened. She glanced at Kyp.

"Something like that, yeah," she said.

Anakin started to laugh. "You're mad!" he shouted. "Absolutely mad!"

"But you're still listening," Jaina said. "You're trying to make sense of it."

Anakin fell silent mid-laugh. He frowned at her. "It's just not possible. I don't believe a word you're saying."

"Anakin, I can vouch for them," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin turned to him. "Not you too!" he exclaimed. "Already we have Master Yoda trying to tell us that time travel is real. Don't do this to me, Obi-Wan. Please."

"Anakin, it's the truth!" Obi-Wan said. "None of us are lying to you."

"But time travel is impossible." Anakin looked at Padmé and Bail, his expression pleading for help. "Please, Padmé – Bail. You can't believe any of this, right?"

Bail had been listening to the conversation silently, his expression unreadable. "This is the domain of the Jedi," he said. "I can't even begin to understand it."

"Padmé," Anakin implored, but his expression fell at the look on her face.

Padmé's hands were pressed tightly together around the carved japor snippet that hung from a chain around her neck. Her expression was pensive. "Anakin," she began.

"Oh, no," Anakin groaned. "Not you too."

Padmé sighed and took his hand with hers. "Do you remember what you told me right after you came back from that fiasco onboard the _Invisible Hand?"_ she asked. "You told me about Jaina and Kyp. You couldn't understand how they could act like Jedi, but not seem like Jedi. You were completely suspicious of them, yet you had no proof. _Here's_ your proof. As much as my mind would like to disbelieve them, time travel gives an explanation for everything they are. Look at them. You've fought beside them. You know their talents, skills that could only possibly be achieved by studying with Jedi Masters. And there's more. There's their knowledge." She turned and looked directly at Jaina. "You're from the future, aren't you? That's how you knew that I am pregnant with twins." She caught eyes with Kyp. "That's how you knew that Anakin and I were married before anyone else had even begun to guess."

Jaina pressed a hand to her mouth as she tried not to smile. Padmé's moment of deduction made her think of her own mother. If Leia could have ever known how much she was like Padmé…

"Leave it to you, Senator, to figure it out," Obi-Wan commented mildly.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan," Padmé said. "Though I don't think I need a round of applause."

Anakin was staring dumbfounded at Jaina. "You're from the future?" he said weakly.

"Yes," she answered simply.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Anakin asked.

"Would you have believed us?" Kyp said.

"Of course not!" Anakin answered rapidly. "The idea is absurd, I would have—oh."

Kyp nodded pointedly. "Exactly."

"Well, this is truly an interesting turn of events," Bail commented.

"Though interesting, it may be," Yoda said firmly, "important issues to discuss, we have."

"How far in the future?" Anakin demanded.

"Fifty years, more or less," Jaina said, shrugging.

Anakin made a face, obviously attempting to wrap his mind around the idea.

"I believe you're right, Master Yoda," Bail said. "Though we've established that time travel exists, it is not prominent in our discussion right at this moment. The Galaxy is moving forwards, and Palpatine will be preparing his new government. The Empire is rising."

"Where am I in fifty years?" Anakin asked.

"Anakin!" Padmé admonished, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow.

"Ouch! What did I do?"

Jaina sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Okay, look," she said. "Now that the truth is out there, I just have to ask that you don't say a word about this to anyone. No one needs to know that Kyp and I are from the future. But we've got something more important to deal with right now than discussing where I'm from. The Empire is gathering its forces. Soon enough, no one is going to be able to object to its formation. Palpatine will have complete dominion and that isn't a very pleasant thought."

"Jaina's right," Padmé said. "We need to act quickly. Not all the Senators will agree with the formation with the Empire. There are many whom I know who will not stand for this."

"Yes," Bail agreed. "Perhaps if we sent them messages, if we have them stand together, we can prevent some planets from falling under the Empire's sway—"

"That could be more disastrous than you realize, Senator Organa," Jaina said, thinking of what had happened to Alderaan in her past. "If a planet is to stand up to the Empire, Palpatine will merely have it overrun with clone troopers." _And worse, if he plans on inventing the _Death Star _as well,_ she added silently.

"True," Bail said heavily, "but if enough planets band together and _reject_ the Empire—"

"—at the same time Sidious himself falls," Anakin mused.

There was silence.

"Anakin, what are you proposing?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin blinked. "I'm proposing that I go after him," he said. "Someone has to. Palpatine's not going to stop until he's dead. He'll do everything in his power to keep control. That's what he's been working towards all these years. _That's_ what he wants. If there's anyone who can stop him, it's me."

"The Chosen One," Yoda murmured.

"Yes," Obi-Wan said wildly, "but _think about it_, Anakin! Palpatine's a Sith Lord with more power than you could possibly imagine—"

"Obi-Wan," Anakin said, "this is _me_ you're talking to. I'm the one who has the highest amount of midichlorians anyone has ever seen."

"That's not the point," Obi-Wan responded.

"Obi-Wan," Jaina began, but he held up a hand, silencing her.

_Didn't I explain the situation to him?_ Jaina thought exasperatedly.

"It's _dangerous_," Obi-Wan continued. "You're rash, Anakin, and you don't think things through! You could very well go to your death—"

"I _know,"_ Anakin interrupted. "I _know_ that, Obi-Wan. I'm not your Padawan anymore. I can make decisions for myself. But it comes down to the fact that _someone_ is going to eventually have to face him. It's the only way."

"I wish it weren't," Padmé said quietly. "He was a friend once, after all."

There was another long moment of silence. Jaina looked across the table at Kyp; his green eyes stared into hers.

_Well, Goddess,_ he thought at her, _looks like we didn't even have to do much. Forget the whole time travel business; Wonder boy's thought of the solution all on his own._

_Knock it off,_ Jaina responded, _I'm not in the mood for witticisms. We _must _have done something, otherwise Anakin would have been going down the same path as before. _

_Yeah, but what?_

_Beats me._

_You'll think of it, _Kyp concluded and drew his mind away.

"Palpatine's on Coruscant, Anakin," Obi-Wan was saying. "If we even get close to the system, they'll arrest us. We can't land there. There's no way to get close to him."

"We'll draw him out then," Anakin said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, but how?"

Kyp ran a hand through his hair. "It seems to me," he said, "that we have two goals. One is to get Anakin to Palpatine. The other is convince enough Senators to pull away from the Empire, which could be difficult if they know they'll have an invasion of clones if they even so much as try to stand up against Palpatine's new reign."

"Correct," Padmé said.

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "What are you thinking, Durron?"

"We need a way to contact those Senators," Kyp said, "and alert them to what we might be trying to do – but _not_ everything, mind. Keep Anakin's mission a secret. No one needs to know about the assassination attempt until _after_ it's done."

Padmé closed her eyes and sighed. _"Please_ don't throw words around like that, Kyp," she said. "This is not strictly an assassination we're talking about."

Kyp shrugged. "It is, but if you prefer not to think about it that way, fine by me."

"Your point, Kyp?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Oh, right." Kyp cleared his throat. "Bail wanted to go to Alderaan. I say, let's go to Alderaan, then. When we land, we _might_ draw the Empire's attention, which will bring Palpatine to Anakin – which is what we want. I say 'might' because who knows how the populace of Alderaan is going to react? They're loyal to you, right, Senator?"

Bail nodded. "Yes. Much more loyal than they are to any self-proclaimed Empire."

"Then they will probably try to protect the knowledge of your presence on Alderaan, then," Kyp said. "So, even if that doesn't attract the Empire's attention, so much the better because I doubt that Anakin is ready to fight Palpatine. However, going to Alderaan serves another purpose entirely – we can inform Senator Organa's wife as to what is _really_ going on in the Galaxy and try to contact as many Senators as possible. We can also try to send out messages to any Jedi who might be fleeing across the Galaxy."

Padmé frowned. "There could be a lot of problems caused by this," she said.

"Do we have a better plan?" Bail asked.

Padmé shook her head. "Not that I can see." She smiled slightly. "It's hard work being a fugitive, isn't it?"

"Then to Alderaan, we go," Yoda said. "Unless, objections, there are?"

"None," Obi-Wan said.

"It's the best plan we've got," Anakin said, shrugging.

Jaina shook her head. "No," she said. "No objections." She felt extremely lightheaded at the even mere mention of Alderaan: her mother's homeworld. Destroyed by the Empire.

She was going to see it. Leia had described its beauty many times in Jaina's childhood, inviting her to visualize the soaring landscapes with her imagination. Jaina had always longed to be able to see it, even though she knew that it was impossible.

Now she was finally going to get her chance.

* * *

After the conference, they dispersed in several directions. Jaina and Kyp did not keep track of where their companions were headed. They left the stateroom together and wandered down the _Tantive IV's _halls in silence. Jaina had several things on her mind and she needed time to _think._ Anakin knew they were time travelers, and knowing him, he was bound to start asking questions about the future. Jaina would have to prepare herself for that – how should she reply him? With the truth?

Would he be able to handle the truth?

Her elation about going to Alderaan was quickly dissolving as she reminded herself of the number of obstacles piling up before her. Anakin, Palpatine, Empires and mysterious Sith Lords – and time travel.

"You look worried," Kyp commented as they rounded a corner.

"I'm not worried," Jaina replied, running a hand through her hair. "We've just got a lot of things to handle right now, that's all. Too many things. How did we get dragged into this?"

"I don't think that's one of your best memories," Kyp said quietly.

Jaina came to a halt and shot a glare at him. "Durron…" She shook her head. "Some days I'm amazed that you're even still alive with people skills like yours. Have you ever heard of a little thing called _empathy?"_

He drew back. "What?"

"Never mind," she said exasperatedly and stalked away from him. "Next time make sure you don't answer any of my rhetorical questions. I know why we're here. I don't need to remember what happened before we left."

"Jaina…"

He ran after her, but remained silent as they continued walking. Jaina silently wished that he think before he said certain things. Though she had steeled her mind against her memories, Jacen's death was still a sharp, physical pain that would never leave her as long as she held on tightly to the hope that what they were doing here in this _time_ would prevent him from ever dying. For all she knew, what they had set in motion would – but that did not change the fact that she had seen him die, that she had felt her bond with him being ripped away from her heart.

"Kyp, do me a favour," she said finally, "and be a little more considerate sometimes. Can you at least try?"

"Could you at least try not to see harmful meanings in everything I say?" he retorted.

She flinched slightly at the pained expression in his voice.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

"Good," he replied. "I'm glad to know that you have a conscience."

Jaina paused. She frowned. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, kriff…" Kyp stopped walking and pulled her aside. "Every time I so much as say something, you always take it badly, seeing meanings that aren't there and it's as if you don't even realize it."

"What?"

"I'm concerned about you, Jaina," Kyp told her. "Yeah, you heard right. Concerned. Maybe it doesn't sound like it, but I'm genuinely worried about you because I think I can understand a little of what this must be like for you. No, I'm not trying to save my own grandfather from the Dark side, but I've lost family members because of Palpatine and the Empire too, you know. I essentially _killed_ my own brother because the Empire told me that he had already died. I've had to live the effects of destroying Carida and knowing that you're responsible for thousands of people's deaths… well, maybe you should try that some day."

Jaina pressed her lips together, a lump in her throat. His words had hit her quite bluntly, bring her back to reality. What was one supposed to say to this?

"Yes…" She paused. "I'm sorry, Kyp. I've overreacted… again. And if you're concerned about me – thanks, but be concerned later. We've got enough to handle as it is."

She began walking again, Kyp at her side, silent. There was something brooding about his presence now as they walked down the long, white corridors. Jaina wasn't quite sure what to say to him.

"I wonder what would have happened if someone else had come with you instead of me," Kyp said, his tone flat.

Jaina blinked. The question had taken her by surprise. "I don't think I've ever thought about that," she replied.

"Well, think about it then."

"Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering if things would have turned out different if someone else had come here with you."

"Do you think it really matters?" Jaina asked. She was puzzled by his question. "We didn't have much of a choice, remember. I was supposed to go alone in the first place and really, I don't even want to think about what things would have been like if I was alone. I'm happy you're here, honestly. Whatever I yelled about earlier, I'm sorry, but I'm actually glad that you're here. And if Lowie or Zekk had been here instead…" She shrugged. "Who knows? We had to act immediately back then. Lowie and Zekk weren't there. In fact, I don't even know _where_ Zekk was. I think Lowie was helping to track down space pirates, but only the Force knows where Zekk ended up." She chuckled at the end.

Kyp ran a hand through his hair. "Right… But what if anyone could have come?"

Jaina's eyes hardened. There was a strange tone in his voice. She thought she knew where this was going. "By anyone," she said coolly, "do you mean _Jag?"_

"Well—"

"First of all, Kyp," Jaina said, "Jag isn't Force-sensitive, so he'd have as much luck going through that wormhole as my father—"

"That's not the point— and stop jumping to conclusions!"

"Second of all," Jaina continued loudly, speaking over him, "I don't even know where he was that day when we went to Mustafar. I haven't seen him or spoken with him in I don't know how many months. We went our separate ways after the war ended. We promised each other that we _would_ see each other as much as possible, but that never happened. I was always so… _busy."_

The more Jaina thought about it, the more she became flustered. Since going back into the past, she had barely spared a thought on Jag and the love she had once _said_ she had for him. Now, it seemed like some distant dream. She had buried her most cherished memories of him since she knew that she would be unable to see him again under the same circumstances. Everything had changed now – for better or for worse.

She paused. "And besides," she said, "can you really imagine Jag taking on a Sith Lord like Palpatine? He's an amazing fighter, I know, but he doesn't quite understand the Force and its ways. He would be able to understand the concept of time travel, I'm sure of it, but he doesn't quite understand about the Dark side and the Light side—"

"Jaina, this has nothing to do with your boyfriend."

"What's this about, then?" Jaina grunted.

Kyp shrugged. "I honestly don't know."

"Hmph."

Jaina and Kyp both jumped in surprise as they heard Yoda's voice, accompanied by a bang of his gimer stick, behind them. They turned around simultaneously as looked down at the little green Jedi Master.

"Master Yoda—?" Jaina began.

"What is it?" Kyp finished for her.

"Come," he said. "Talk we must. Many things to discuss, we have – time travelers."

Jaina glanced at Kyp. She thought his expression mimicked exactly what she was feeling. Left without a choice in the matter, she and Kyp followed Yoda down a corridor of the _Tantive IV_.


	34. Family Matters

**CHAPTER XXXIV**

**Family Matters**

Bail Organa had given Yoda a small, private cabin onboard the _Tantive IV_ and it was here that Jaina and Kyp found themselves after following the Jedi Master down several corridors of the ship. Yoda seemed determined to have a proper conversation with them, and so it was with some consternation about what was to come that Jaina and Kyp took their seats.

"Master Yoda, what is this about?" Jaina began, even though she knew full well that it was something to do with the time traveling revelation.

"Hmph." Yoda set down his gimer stick. "The mysteries of time, you know. Traveled through them, you have. Seen what is not meant to be seen, you have." One ear twitched slightly. "Reasons for coming here, you have. Many weeks ago, this conversation I should have had."

Jaina exchanged looks with Kyp. No doubt Yoda was here to talk about more than just the fact that they were time travelers. He was here to discover the facts that they had not told Anakin, or even Obi-Wan.

"What is it?" Jaina asked, though what she really meant was _where should we begin?_ There was no point on hiding anything from Yoda.

"Sensed the presence of time on you, for a long time, I have," Yoda said. "Sent, you were, by a man called Augustine. Or so this one says," he nodded in Kyp's direction.

"Yes," Jaina said. "Yes, we were sent—"

"The reason?" Yoda asked.

Jaina glanced at Kyp. He shrugged.

"To prevent Anakin from falling to the Dark side," he said.

"Hmph!" Yoda shook his head. "Fifty years in the future, you come from, hmm?"

"Yes," Jaina said. "Fifty years, more or less." She drew a deep breath before continuing. "Master Yoda, things have gone terribly wrong. They went wrong in the past and now they've gone wrong here. If Anakin did not fall, the Jedi Order was never supposed to be destroyed. It's _our_ fault – if we had just acted sooner—"

"No!" Yoda interrupted. "Act, you have not. But changed the course of the future, your presence has. By coming here, disrupted the natural order of events, you have. Changed, everything has. See this, you can. On his own, Skywalker made his decision. " Yoda bent his head. "Mistakes, we both have made. Spoken to you before, I should have, but my pride would not allow me. Hmph."

Jaina glanced at Kyp.

_Pride?_ she thought.

He looked back at her, his expression perplexed.

"Serious, time is," Yoda continued. "Not a toy to be played with. Dangerous, it is. Very dangerous. Mastered it, very few have. You, however, have not. Dangerous, this is. Know what you have done, you do not. Sent by another, you have been. The mysteries and power of time, you know not."

Jaina swallowed hard. What Yoda said was true – if Augustine hadn't sent them through time, they wouldn't be here. They didn't have that knowledge or the power – not like Sidious.

"Bring balance to the Force, young Skywalker must," Yoda continued. "One way – the way in _your_ past – cannot happen. Taken, a new course must be."

"Even in our past Anakin didn't succeed," Kyp said grimly. "We thought Palpatine had been defeated forever when the Empire fell and Darth Vader… the Sith Lord Anakin was to become… turned his back on his master to save the life on his son, Luke. But he didn't. Palpatine _knows_ the powers of time. He's not like us. He can control it, Master Yoda. He slipped through time to save his own life and when he returned… there was no stopping him."

"He murdered my brother," Jaina said hollowly. "My twin."

Yoda's eyes narrowed as he looked at her. "Revenge, your motive must _not_ be. Fight darkness with darkness… work, it cannot. Work, it _will_ not. This I have said before. Fight darkness with the light. The brighter the light, the lesser the shadow. Hmph. Related to Skywalker, are you not?"

Jaina froze. She swallowed hard; she had been expecting this.

"Yes."

"Hmm." Yoda's ears twitched. "Interesting, this is. Bound to him, you are."

"I'm his granddaughter," Jaina said quietly.

"Similar to him, you are," Yoda said. "Hmph. _Very_ similar. But keep this knowledge from Skywalker, for a time, we must."

"Why?" Kyp asked suddenly. "We've kept so much information from him, it's a wonder he trusts us at all. If he knew the whole truth—"

"Know the whole truth, he did," Yoda interrupted, "even more reckless Skywalker would become! Infallible, he would think he was. Ask you, he would, what he did in the past. Act on this information, he would – but to his _disadvantage!"_

"How?" Jaina asked. "Master Yoda, if we tell him about Vader and everything _he_ did—"

"Warped, your knowledge is!" Yoda interrupted. "Know you only what your family told you. Vader – did they know him?"

Jaina paused. "Well… Uncle Luke redeemed him, and my mother—"

"Know Vader like he knew himself, did he?"

"Well… maybe," Jaina said. "I can't say for certain—"

"Your knowledge of the past, weak it is," Yoda stated. "Heh. That I can know. Know what Vader was, you do not. Your advice, lead Skywalker to darkness, it could. His own decisions, he must make. Your identity, for now, you must keep. Know, he need not. Know, he should not until the correct time. With this knowledge… confused, he will become. Even more so than now. Think of it as he would."

_Put the situation into Anakin's perspective,_ Jaina thought. She thought about it. If someone claimed to be come from the past and masqueraded her identity as _her_ granddaughter, she had to admit that she would be confused and wouldn't entirely trust the girl. The situation was entirely… implausible.

Yet, Jaina knew that it was perfectly possible. She herself was evidence of that.

_Talk about a biased perspective,_ Jaina grumbled to herself.

"So, what can we do?" Jaina asked softly. "We're on the losing side now. Palpatine has the upper hand—"

"Faith, you must have," Yoda said. "Base not future events on the happenings of _your_ past. Always in motion, the future is – but where is the past and the future? How tell us when past becomes future and future becomes past?"

"I…"

Jaina looked at Kyp. He ran a hand through his dark hair and shrugged. He looked perplexed.

"So… we just let things _happen?"_ Kyp asked. "Is that what you mean?"

"No," Yoda replied. "A warning, I have given you. Set in stone, the future is not. Remember that, you should. Meditate on it, perhaps you should."

Jaina looked down at her hands. They were clasped tightly together in her lap. Her knuckles had turned white.

"We will."

* * *

The _Tantive IV_ was en-route to Alderaan and Jaina needed time to reflect on everything that had come to pass in this past week. The Sith Lord on Shanthral, the fall of the Jedi Order, Anakin's defiance against the Dark side… Yoda's warning. _Set in stone, the future is not._ Who knew what was going to happen now? The only thing that was clear was that Jaina knew that she and Kyp were not directly responsible for Anakin's new course. He had somehow saved himself from the Dark side – and he was going to have to make his own decisions.

Surprisingly, that was what troubled Jaina.

"Are you all right?"

Jaina looked up. She was sitting in one of the communal lounges onboard the _Tantive IV,_ trying to sort out her whirling thoughts. She was slightly surprised to see that it was Anakin himself who had come to talk to her. Despite his initial reaction and attempts to discover what happened to him in the future, he had been avoiding her ever since the revelation that she was a time traveler.

Jaina shrugged in response. "I guess so. Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking," Anakin said, sitting down beside her, "that if you're from the future, something _really_ bad must have happened for you to come here."

"Heh."

Anakin's eyes widened. "So something bad _did_ happen!"

He sounded almost eager. Jaina felt sick; if only he knew… She looked up at her grandfather. His blue eyes were full of seriousness and determinedness so similar to the look that Uncle Luke sometimes got. Jaina sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Anakin was not going to give up until he got some kind of an answer – but the truth? If Yoda was right… she should say away from the topic of Vader for now.

However, Jaina could not bring herself to lie to him.

"My brother died," she said hollowly.

"I'm sorry," Anakin said.

Jaina pursed her lips. "Yeah." She paused. "He wasn't the first, either."

"Oh?"

"My other brother died as well." She smiled bitterly. "But for different reasons. Under different circumstances. Stupid… the mission was his idea in the first place. He was always playing the hero." She paused. "But it had to be done."

"What happened?" Anakin asked.

"There was… a war," Jaina said quietly. "A huge war. The Galaxy was invaded by an alien species called the Yuuzhan Vong who wanted complete dominion. There was more than enough room for all of us, but they would not rest until they had wiped out or converted every 'infidel' in their path."

"And you fought," Anakin stated.

"More battles than you could imagine," Jaina murmured.

"Try me," Anakin said with a faint smile. "The Clone Wars were fairly epic."

"So was the invasion," Jaina countered. "Dozens of worlds were lost and destroyed, thousands of people were displaced, hundreds of Jedi were killed…" She shrugged. "There's no point dwelling on it. It's over now. It might not even happen now, I don't know."

"I suppose we'll find out," Anakin said. He frowned. "Was I there?" he asked. "Fifty years – come on. I'd be in my seventies. I can't be _that_ out of shape. Master Yoda's almost nine hundred. Is he there?"

Jaina couldn't help laughing a little. Anakin sounded so eager…

"Believe me," she said, "you don't want to know."

"Tell me!" Anakin said.

"I can't!" Jaina replied.

"Why not?" Anakin demanded. "It can't hurt. After all, who doesn't want to know their future?"

"I'd be spoiling you," Jaina said. "Where's the fun in that?"

"Oh good!" Anakin said. "I love spoilers. Tell me!"

"No, seriously, I can't!" Jaina answered, though she was wondering what would happen if she did. She felt that she would have told him if Yoda hadn't cautioned against it. She rapidly tried to come up with a reason why she couldn't tell Anakin. "It'd defy the laws of time travel—"

Anakin snorted. "Since when does time travel have rules?"

Jaina froze and stared at him. She remembered Professor Augustine's words before she had traveled through the vortex into this timeframe. All the rules – and regulations. What could happen, what should not happen, what could destroy the universe in the blink of an eye…

"You have _no_ idea," she said. "Really, you don't."

"Okay," Anakin said, folding his arms. "Then tell me what you're doing here. Is it connected to that war?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"I can't say," Jaina told him firmly.

Anakin raised a hand. "No," he said, "what you mean is – 'I _won't_ say.' Why not?"

"Oh, shut up!" Jaina scowled at him. "You are _really_ annoying sometimes. I can't imagine what Padmé sees in you."

"Ouch." Anakin made a face. "That was a low blow."

Jaina smirked. "That's just too bad then. I'm not telling you anything."

"Jaina," Anakin said. "Look, I _trust_ you. I didn't before, but now I do. I don't think I even have a choice. You're from the future. You know things the rest of us don't. All of us have to trust you. And besides – you're Durron's partner. He saved my life on Coruscant. He saved the lives of the younglings. He helped me save Padmé from Palpatine's assassination attempt. Without him, none of us would be here. I have to trust him now, and that means I have to trust you. So why don't you just trust me enough and _tell_ me?"

"Anakin," Jaina said firmly. "It's not a matter of trust. It's not that simple." She stood and made to walk away, but Anakin caught hold of her hand. As soon as they touched, Jaina jerked backwards and stumbled to the side as an electric shock flowed through her. Anakin, having felt the same thing, yelped in surprise and fell backwards, landing hard on the floor.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded, twisting round to look at her.

Jaina knew _exactly _was it was – she had felt something similar to it when she had come into contact with Padmé. Evidently time travelers should not come into contact with their ancestors… Jaina rapidly attempted to cloak her knowledge by forcing her expression into a confused look.

"I don't know," she said. "I was just going to ask you that."

Anakin rubbed his hand. "Ow…" He shook his head. "That was like the mother of all shocks…"

"Anakin?"

Both Jaina and her grandfather looked around; Padmé had just come through the entrance to the lounge. Her new supply of clothes did not fit her very well at all and to Jaina she looked _very _pregnant indeed. At this point, all she could manage for a walk was a sophisticated waddle. There was a strange look on her face.

"What are you doing on the floor?" she asked.

Anakin rose to his feet. "Nothing, Padmé," he said quickly. "Nothing at all."

Padmé shot him a quizzical look and then glanced at Jaina. "Nothing. Heh." She pursed her lips. "Tell me later." Her eyes flickered towards Jaina again. "I just ran into Kyp," she said. "He asked me to tell you that he's looking for you. I'm not sure what's on his mind, but I think it might be rather import…" Her voice faded away and a queer expression came over her face.

Jaina looked at her, her eyes narrowing. "Padmé?" she asked.

"It's… nothing," Padmé said. "I'm fine."

Anakin rushed over to his wife. "Padmé, what's wrong?"

Padmé shrugged off his support. "I'm _fine,_ Anakin," she snapped. "I'm fine, nothing's wrong, I don't need… oh!" She gasped in surprise. Putting a hand to the small of her back, she wavered for a moment and toppled sideways into the wall, clutching at it for support. "Oh… oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…"

"Padmé!"

Anakin had rushed towards her again, but Padmé was trying to shoo him away with a wave of her hand, completely ignoring the anxious look on his face.

Jaina, however, knew exactly what was happening. She felt slightly queasy; she wasn't sure how she felt about it. She walked quickly towards her grandparents.

"Anakin," she said firmly, "go to the medcentre. I'll help Padmé along. Go now."

Anakin turned to her, his eyes wild. "Wait… you mean—?" He turned to Padmé. "Now?"

"I'm _fine_ Anakin," Padmé hissed.

"But—"

"She'll be fine, Anakin," Jaina said, trying to stay calm. She wasn't sure if she was equipped to deal with the birth of her mother and uncle, but she knew that she had to act like it. "Go to the medcentre!" she told him again, more firmly this time.

Anakin glanced at his wife. "But Padmé—"

Padmé grimaced at him, her face contorted with discomfort and pain. "Go on, Anakin," she said through gritted teeth. "I'll be all right. I promise. Jaina will be here with me if anything… happens."

A strange mixture of wonder and concern passed across his face. "All right."

The Chosen One turned on his heel and ran out of the lounge. Padmé turned to Jaina.

"Is it time?" she asked.

Jaina raised her eyebrows. "I don't know, you tell me," she said. "I'm not the one who's pregnant."

A sheepish expression crossed Padmé's face. "Right… but I've never done this before."

"Well, neither have I!" Jaina exclaimed.

For a moment, the two brown-haired women – almost identical in looks – looked at each other and then burst out laughing. Then Padmé abruptly stopped chuckling and put both her hands to the small of her back, her face contorted with pain.

"Right," she said. "I think… I need a medic."

* * *

The medcentre was, thankfully, not very far away. By the time Jaina helped Padmé down the halls, Anakin had alerted all of Bail's medical staff to the situation and so they were more than ready when the two women arrived at the medcentre. However, in the process of alerting the medics, Anakin had also told everyone else about the current situation and so Padmé had a rather large group of visitors when she finally arrived.

Padmé's mood, however, was noticeably diminishing by the second.

"All right, clear off!" she snapped as she was helped into the medcentre. "This is nothing… to be… worried… about…" She cried out in pain and Jaina was given the task of ushering the younglings, a curious Scout and Whie and several members of staff away from the medcentre. Yoda, Obi-Wan, Bail and Kyp, however, were allowed to stay – albeit on the other side of an observation window.

Padmé's labours went on for hours. Jaina paced on the other side of the observation window, biting her fingernails. The others seemed to take it quite calmly, but Jaina was nervous. She supposed she had a right to be – the situation was particularly odd for her. It _was_ her mother being born, after all.

Every time she thought about it, she choked.

"Hey, Goddess," Kyp's voice said softly. He reached out and squeezed her hand. "Stop worrying."

"I can't," she whispered back.

"You can," Kyp said firmly. "Your mother's not going to be stillborn, and Padmé's not going to die in childbirth."

"I still can't stop worrying."

"Hey. Jaina, look at me."

Her eyes remained glued on what was happening inside the medcentre. Padmé was crying out in pain, gasping for breath; Anakin was at her side, holding her hand tightly.

"_Look_ at me."

Jaina tore her eyes away from the scene and looked up at Kyp. There was a comforting steadiness in his gaze.

"Stop worrying," he whispered. "Everything's going to be okay. I promise."

"You can't promise everything, Kyp," Jaina said.

He squeezed her hand again. "No, but I can say that everything's going to be fine here."

"Thanks," Jaina mumbled. "I guess."

It was a couple hours after that when Jaina's uncle came into the world. Jaina pressed a hand to her mouth; she wasn't sure how she felt. A stray thought reminded her how her mother and uncle had always wondered which of them was older – now Jaina knew. Hopefully, one day, they would know as well.

Several minutes later, Jaina's mother followed. Jaina felt a strange emotion bubbling up within her – bewilderment mixed with uncontrollable joy. She could feel a smile beginning to spread across her face and she was having difficulty concealing it.

The medics gave Anakin and Padmé some time before Jaina and the others were let into the medcentre, but when they arrived, Anakin couldn't have looked happier. Jaina thought she could almost see him swelling with pride.

Padmé was sitting up in her bed, her hair damp and her face flushed. Her twins were cradled in her arms and she was looking remarkably happy – tired, to be true, but happy.

"Obi-Wan!" Anakin called as they gathered around Padmé's bed. "Master Yoda! May I present our children?" He picked up the first twin. "This is Luke."

Luke gurgled happily.

Jaina couldn't stop grinning.

Anakin set his son down in Padmé's arms and lifted up his daughter. "And this," he said, "is Leia."

Jaina noted that her mother wasn't making a sound; her brown eyes were wide open and she was observing the world around her with stark curiosity.

"Congratulations," Bail murmured.

"Thank you," Anakin said.

Padmé chuckled. "Right," she said, "because _you_ were the one who did all the work."

Anakin raised his hand and waved it in her face. "Well, I was there throughout the entire things and I think you almost broke my hand in several places."

"_Anakin!"_

Anakin laughed kissed her on the forehead.

Obi-Wan ran a hand through his beard. "You know, Anakin," he said, "I'm very happy for you both, but I'm going to have to find a suitable punishment for this."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" he replied. "How disappointing, Obi-Wan. I rather thought you'd enjoy playing the part of the eccentric old uncle. Now I'm not sure if I'm going to let you."

Obi-Wan frowned for a moment, but even he couldn't hold off a smile for long. Soon enough, he – along with Bail, Yoda, Anakin and Padmé – broke into laughter.

"You know, Jaina," Kyp said under his breath, "your family's complete here."

"Oh?" Jaina shot him a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"Your grandparents are here," Kyp answered, "and now your mother and uncle. And you. It's all coming together, isn't it? The Skywalker legacy."

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up, Durron."

"Hey, I was just saying—!"

Jaina ignored him.

The birth of the twins provided everyone onboard the _Tantive IV_ with a reason to celebrate. The younglings soon flocked to Padmé's room, all intent on seeing the babies. Jaina was surprised how well the twins took it. They barely cried, and stared wide-eyed at the endless stream of people coming by for visits. All the while, Anakin grinned proudly.

It was a few days after the birth when Anakin gave Leia to Jaina. Jaina had been cautious about touching either her mother or uncle; she wasn't sure how they would respond, but when Anakin insisted on her holding his daughter, she couldn't refuse. Something compelled her to hold her infant mother. She braced herself for the tell-tale shock she had felt when she had touched Anakin, but it never came. Instead, the moment she held her mother it was if a window opened in her mind and she was sensing everything the twins did. Gasping in surprise, Jaina shut her eyes as she felt her mother and uncle's minds, already closely entwined, link with hers. They formed no words, but there was a lingering question in their presences – _Who are you? What are you?_

Jaina wasn't about to try to explain to two-day old babies that she was Leia's daughter, so she sent a comforting thought back instead.

_It's all right,_ she told them. _I'm Jaina. You're safe with me._

Leia gurgled happily and looked up at her with wide brown eyes that brimmed with curiosity. Jaina opened her own and looked down at her infant mother.

"She likes you," Anakin commented.

"Yeah," Jaina said, smiling slightly. "She does."

Jaina felt Leia's thought draw away briefly. The baby closed her eyes and was soon fast asleep. Jaina stood up and gently set the sleeping infant into Padmé's arms.

"I never did get to tell you," Jaina said, speaking to both Anakin and Padmé, "but congratulations."

"Thank you, Jaina," Padmé said.

Jaina nodded in response and turned to leave.

Leia began crying and soon Luke joined her.

Jaina turned back. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Padmé looked perplexed. "I don't know," she said. "They normally don't cry."

Jaina, however, knew exactly what was wrong. She could feel the twins' minds reaching out for hers longingly.

_I can't stay,_ she told them firmly. _But I'll be back. I promise._

A moment later, Luke and Leia stopped crying. Jaina sighed with relief.

"I'll leave you four alone," she said, and quietly left the room.

* * *

In the days that followed, Jaina found that she was spending more and more time visiting Padmé and the twins. The more time she spent holding her infant uncle and mother, the closer her mind became entwined with theirs. It was a strange feeling – not exactly like the mindmeld she shared with Kyp, but more similar to the twin-bond she had shared with Jacen. One quiet part of her mind became extremely sensitive to what the twins were feeling. Even if she was at the other end of the ship, she could tell when they were upset or when they were happy. Most of the time they were happy – and they were happiest when she was there in the room with them.

Padmé and Anakin found this relationship with their children more than a little strange.

"They seem very attached to you," Padmé commented one day while Jaina was visiting. Luke was sleeping in her arms while Leia was awake and alert in Jaina's.

"Yes, well…" Jaina shrugged. "I don't know what it could be."

Padmé smiled. "There's something different about you, Jaina," she said. "Something that I didn't notice before."

Jaina glanced at her. "Oh? What is that?"

"You have a mothering instinct," Padmé said. "That's one side I've never seen from you before. You really do love them."

Jaina glanced down at Leia. The baby girl was curiously inspecting Jaina's fingers.

"I suppose so," Jaina said slowly.

"Of course you do," Padmé replied. "You wouldn't spend so much time here if you didn't."

At that point, Luke began fussing and Padmé turned her attentions towards him. She rubbed her son's back gently, softly shushing him.

_Calm down,_ Jaina sent to her uncle, reaching into the quiet place in her mind where she felt the connection between the twins' minds and her own. _Calm down, Luke. Everything's all right._

The baby immediately fell back asleep.

"Sleep well, Luke," Padmé murmured. "Sleep." She glanced up at Jaina. "Are you all right? You look tired."

"Hmm?" Jaina glanced up. "Tired? No, I'm fine."

What Padmé was mistaking for fatigue was Jaina's distraction. While she loved being with her mother and uncle, she couldn't help but keep reflecting on home. Her past life – one that she would never have again. She had always realized that from the start – whatever they changed here was going to change her future present, when she finally returned home. If she returned home at all. The fact had just never really sunk in before. Jaina had always been aware of it, but she had never truly thought about it. The infant Luke and Leia reminded her of it. Home wouldn't be home when she returned.

Absently, she wondered how her mother and father were going to meet. They _had_ to meet, otherwise Jaina herself wouldn't still be here. However, she was positive that they would not be meeting in the cell block on the Death Star anymore. That meeting was now wiped from existence – she was sure of it.

"Jaina," Padmé said presently, "tell me about your home."

Jaina almost jumped, startled out of her reverie. "Um… well…"

"I realize the dangers of knowing too much about the future, even if what you know will be changed," Padmé said. "I'm not looking for spoilers, as Anakin calls them. _He_ wants to know what happens to him. I don't. After all, wouldn't that take the fun out of it?" She smiled slightly.

Jaina couldn't help smiling as well. "I suppose so."

Leia gurgled.

"I just…" Padmé took a deep breath. "I suppose I'm just curious as to what life is like in fifty years' time. I don't want to know about me. Tell me about your home."

"Well, I…"

Leia gurgled again and Jaina felt the baby's curious hands playing lightly with her fingers. She glanced down at her infant mother and saw the warm, brown eyes and the familiar intelligence that sparkled in them.

"Did you grow up with the Jedi?" Padmé asked.

"No," Jaina replied. "No. The Jedi Order is completely different in my time. I grew up with my family. Me and my brothers. We never really had a solid home," Jaina said. "We grew up in all sorts of places, the three of us. Our mom was a politician. Head of the New Republic, actually."

"New Republic?" Padmé inquired.

Jaina winced. Perhaps it was safe to tell Padmé, but how much would she pass along to Anakin?

"Spoilers," she said, smiling whimsically.

"Ah," Padmé murmured. "I think I understand. The Empire existed in your time as well. It was eventually destroyed and the New Republic came into existence, correct?"

Jaina shrugged. "Maybe."

"I'll take that as a yes," Padmé said lightly. "What else? Your mother was a politician…?"

"From Alderaan, originally," Jaina continued, looking down at baby Leia again, who was suddenly very interested in her right index finger's nail. "I never had the chance to see Alderaan. Dad was a… well. It's kind of complicated. He _was_ a smuggler, and then he rescued my mother from a prison and he became a General."

"Sounds like a holodrama," Padmé commented, grinning.

Jaina laughed. "Mom used to joke that Dad could have been an actor, actually," she said. "He'd be good at it, too. They used all sorts of disguises during the war."

Padmé's face fell. "So the Galaxy wasn't at peace, then."

Jaina shook her head. "No. It was never really, completely at peace after the fall of the Empire. There were all these little skirmishes. Little wars would crop up now and again. And then there was the invasion."

"You fought in that one, didn't you?" Padmé said. "Anakin told me. I'm sorry about what happened to your brother."

"Thank you." Jaina shrugged. "It was a long time ago. The wounds have healed. I miss him. I miss him a lot sometimes, but you've got to pick yourself up and carry on. I learned that the hard way."

"Why?" Padmé inquired. "What happened?"

Jaina glanced down at Leia again. The baby was staring calmly up at her. Jaina hesitated before answering, not sure if it was the right thing to talk about, but she felt compelled to speak.

"I had a brush with the Dark side," she said softly. "I don't think I've ever known such despair in my entire life. I'd lost my younger brother, my twin was captured by the enemy and I thought that he was dead, too. I just lost touch with everything. If it hadn't been for Kyp, I probably would have fallen. He brought me back."

"No wonder you two are so close," Padmé murmured. "You really do love about each other, don't you."

Jaina glanced up at her and felt her cheeks growing warm. "Excuse me?"

Padmé frowned. "I thought it was obvious," she said. "The way you two act when you're around each other – you argue almost as much as Anakin and I do. Though you sound angry, you're not really angry. You act almost as if you're married."

"No!" Jaina was quite sure her cheeks were bright red by now. "No, it's not like that at all! Never, ever." Even as she said the words, she was furiously trying to blot out the memory of when Kyp had wandered into the bathroom while she was taking a shower—

_No, don't think! _she chastised herself. _It was nothing. Absolutely nothing. _

"All right!" Padmé said, but she was still smiling. "I apologize. Obviously I saw something that was not there." From the tone of her amused voice, Jaina could tell that Padmé didn't believe any of the words she was saying.

Jaina decided not to argue with her about that.

"_Good,"_ she said coolly. "Glad that's settled."

"Mind you," Padmé added after a moment's silence, "he is pretty handsome."

"Padmé—!"

"And strong."

"I don't—"

"And brave."

"Padmé, I—"

"And intelligent."

"Stop it—!"

"Stop what?"

Jaina felt as if her heart had momentarily stopped when Kyp walked into the room. She could feel her cheeks burning and could just imagine what her face looked like. She watched as he looked from Padmé, who was shaking from fits of silent laughter, to Jaina, who wished desperately that she could disappear.

"What's going on?" Kyp asked, looking confused.

Padmé broke into gales of laughter. "I… I'm sorry," she said, furiously fighting to control her laughter. "Jaina, you should have seen the look on your face!" She pressed a hand to her mouth and forced herself to calm down. "I'm sorry," she finally managed to say. "Really, I am. That was just so _funny!"_

"Glad you were amused," Jaina said sarcastically.

"What is it?" Kyp said, looking slightly worried. "It wasn't about me was it?"

Jaina glanced at Padmé and saw the sides of her mouth twitch. She broke into helpless laughter again, and this time, after one look of Kyp's expression, Jaina couldn't help but laugh as well.

Kyp stared at them.

"What did I do?"


	35. Alderaan

**CHAPTER XXXV**

**Alderaan**

The _Tantive IV_ was quickly approaching Bail Organa's homeworld and Jaina and her companions were busy making preparations for their landing. Ideally, they would only be on the planet for so long enough to speak with Queen Breha, Bail's wife, and alert Bail and Padmé's likeminded Senators to what needed to be done. Furthermore, if they managed to draw Palpatine to Alderaan… Anakin had to be ready.

None of the Jedi had talked to Anakin about what he had to do. As soon as Palpatine's name was mentioned, his eyes went cold and his expression as hard as durasteel. With that expression, any topic dealing with the Dark Lord of the Sith quickly became taboo. Whether he was ready or not, Anakin would have to come to terms with his destiny in his own way, in his own time.

When they exited hyperspace and began the descent into Alderaan's atmosphere, Jaina could feel both excitement and tension building. So many things could go wrong… yet so many things could go _right._ It was here that the tables could be turned. It was here that they could plant the seeds of rebellion that would help overthrow Palpatine's Empire when the time came. On top of all that, Jaina was finally going to see her mother's homeworld.

Her past mother's homeworld, that is.

Jaina decided that she didn't even want to think about it. It was too confusing to bother with grammar.

Jaina met with Kyp, Bail, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Padmé and Anakin on the _Tantive IV_'s bridge to watch the descent towards the capital of the planet. The first glance Jaina had of Alderaan took her breath away. The landscape was more beautiful than her mother's descriptions had depicted. White-capped silver mountains rose up out of the land, stretching high into the sky. Nestled between the mountains and surrounded by glistening lakes was the capital city of Aldera. Its delicate white structures soared towards the sky, taking Jaina's breath away.

She was glad she had this chance to see the most beautiful planet that had ever existed.

"Well?" Padmé's voice asked softly. "What do you think?"

Jaina glanced at her. "It's… just as beautiful as Mom said it was." She paused as she thought of Leia, first as the person she knew as Mother, then as the infant she had held in her arms. _I wonder if Mom will get a chance to live here,_ Jaina thought. _She loved this planet._

"Your mother was Alderaanian, Jaina?" Bail asked. There was a slightly wary edge to his voice; ever since the revelation that she and Kyp were time travelers, Bail had always been cautious around her, as if he wasn't quite sure how to act.

"Yeah," Jaina said. "She was."

"Perhaps your grandparents are down there," Bail mused.

Jaina choked. She caught eyes with Kyp, who was working very hard to conceal a grin. She rolled her eyes at him and mouthed fiercely, _"Stop it."_

He shrugged and grinned.

"Would that be a good idea?" Anakin wondered. "You meeting your grandparents?"

"Ah…" Jaina's voice caught in her throat. She wasn't sure if she was going to laugh or not. Coughing, she brushed her hair out of her eyes and said, "Probably not." She threw a glare at Kyp. He was smirking at her.

"Wouldn't that be a paradox?" Anakin continued as if he hadn't heard her. "Meeting your ancestors? I mean, what physically happens if you go back in time and meet someone whose son or daughter is your mother or father? It just doesn't make sense. If—"

"Curious, the concept of time travel is," Yoda interrupted, banging his gimer stick on the floor. "Give you a headache, it will, if think too much about it, you do." There was a whimsical twinkle in his eyes as he glanced up at Jaina.

"_Thank you!"_ Jaina mouthed before shooting Kyp a glare. He merely grinned gleefully at her. Jaina shook her head.

_Idiot._

Anakin did not look happy, but he dropped the subject. His brow was furled with concentration – evidently he had already begun to get one of Yoda's foreshadowed headaches.

When the _Tantive IV_ landed in the main docking bay at the Palace of Aldera, they disembarked as quickly as possible. Bail left instructions with Captain Antilles to have him and the crew stay with the ship; the visit with Queen Breha would not last more than a day and they did not know if they had been traced to Alderaan. There was always the potential of an ambush from the clones, in which case they would have to leave the planet as quickly as possible.

After a few moments of deep concern, Padmé was finally convinced that it was best that she leave the twins onboard. Bail's aide, Sheltay Retrac, promised that she would care for the twins as she would her own daughter. Scout and Whie, who had been listening intently to the conversation, immediately volunteered to help. Padmé hesitated before agreeing, but finally nodded and left the ship with the others.

As soon as they stepped out into the docking bay, they were greeted by Queen Breha, who had arrived in the company of several of her guards and aides. She was pale, her face lined with worry, and there were bags under her eyes as if she had gone most nights without sleep. Her hair, though elaborately dressed, seemed somewhat disheveled. As soon as she saw her husband, she ignored all formalities and royal dignity and rushed towards him, throwing her arms around Bail and holding him close.

"Bail," she murmured, "I heard what happened on Coruscant. It's been all over the HoloNet. I was so worried. The Emperor… _Palpatine_ has put a price on your head; there must be bounty hunters searching across the Galaxy for you—"

"I'm fine, Breha," Bail told her firmly, drawing away. "No harm done – yet. Still," he continued, smiling weakly, "I've managed to rescue several Jedi, enrage the Galaxy's new Emperor and fall from his favour enough to have a price put on my head; it's all in a day's work, I suppose."

Breha did not look amused. She raised a hand and pressed it against her cheek, an anxious look creeping into her eyes. She cast a glance at the others, acknowledged them with a nod of her head, and then turned back to her husband. "It won't be long before the Empire finds you here," she said. "You have to get off-world. Go to the Outer-Rim, I don't care, just stay away from Alderaan. No matter where you are, just be _safe."_

"Breha, we didn't come here merely for a visit," Bail said. "We need your help. There's something crucial that must be done if democracy is ever to survive. We can't do it if we're continually on the run; any contact with the planets in question could lead Palpatine's clone army right to us and we can't afford to continually fend off attacks—"

Breha's expression hardened. "I know what it is," she said, taking his hand. "And I'll do it." She turned and looked directly at the Jedi and Padmé. "Friends," she said, raising her voice a little, "welcome to Alderaan. Please, follow me. There is much that we must discuss – in private."

Jaina walked beside Kyp as they were ushered into the Palace and through its glistening white corridors and halls. As Breha led the way upwards, Jaina couldn't help but take everything in – the delicately designed windows that gave an exquisite view of the mountains and the lake, the artwork that decorated the halls, the distant music that floated up from carefully tended gardens in the courtyards. Jaina remembered all the stories Leia had told her about her childhood on Alderaan. She had spent so much time trying to visualize her mother's homeworld that she had built a very firm design in her mind from her mother's descriptions. It was nothing compared to the real thing. The beauty of Alderaan took her breath away.

"You seem awfully impressed," Kyp muttered as they passed under an archway and up and sweeping staircase.

"I am," Jaina whispered back. "Kyp, we're standing on an _extinct_ world. For us, Alderaan's been dead for decades. Of course I'm impressed by it."

"Awed would be the better word, don't you think?"

Jaina rolled her eyes, feeling exasperated by his whimsical tone. "Shut up."

Breha led them to her private sitting room in the royal suite near the top of the palace. The room was large and spacious, decorated with delicate Alderaanian sculptures and paintings, and furnished with deep blue carpet and matching furniture whose upholstery was embroidered with silver. Wide windows lined one of the walls, displaying a magnificent view of the silver-peaked mountains. There was a delicate, elegant feel to the room that had a calming effect.

The Queen motioned them to sit down while she took a spot beside Bail on one of the couches. She folded her hands together, pressing them so tightly that her knuckles began to turn white. Padmé noticed this and frowned.

"Breha?" she asked gently.

The Queen of Alderaan looked up and smiled gently. "It is nothing to be concerned about, Senator," she said. "I have not been feeling myself since… since the Temple fell. The Emperor makes it a priority for the HoloNet to reshow the images of Jedi renegades battling the clones. We have heard the audio captured from his own office again and again—"

"Do you have a copy of it?" Anakin asked abruptly.

Breha turned to him. She swallowed hard. "Yes," she said. "I do." She hesitated. "I have asked professionals about the credibility of the recording. There is no doubt. You know what is on there, Jedi Skywalker."

"Indeed," Anakin said. "And you also know that what happened there cannot be credible without a visual link as well. There is none. You trust us, don't you, your Majesty? You cannot believe what Palpatine has forced everyone in this entire Galaxy to believe."

"Anakin," Padmé cautioned.

"No," Breha said, shaking her head vehemently after a pause. "I do not believe him. I cannot believe him. From the moment I first heard the recording of your conversation with the Emperor in his office, I knew that there was something that Palpatine was not telling us. I cannot trust him after the horror he has brought upon the Jedi."

"But you're still cautious around me!" Anakin said bluntly. "Why?"

"_Anakin,"_ Padmé hissed under her breath. "This is _not_ what we're here for. Breha has been gracious enough to give us sanctuary."

"Padmé, you're not getting it," Anakin said, his voice irritated. "I'm not mad at her and I'm not blaming her for anything. I'm just wondering what people thought when they heard that recording!"

"Obviously nothing good or the Senate wouldn't have stood by when Palpatine declared the Jedi enemies of his Empire!" Kyp snapped.

"It doesn't quite work like that, Kyp," Padmé began. "The Chancellor had a lot of support before he created the Empire; there are some who would follow his advice blindly, without question."

"Hmph!" Yoda said, interjecting before anyone else could respond to Padmé's comment. "Unnecessary, this arguing is."

"We were not arguing, Master Yoda," Padmé said firmly, "we were discussing."

"Knight Skywalker," Breha said softly, rising from her seat, "I can play the copy of the recording for you, if you insist."

Anakin's voice was steely. "I do."

"Very well."

As Breha disappeared to collect the device, Bail turned to Anakin.

"It would be most appreciated, Anakin," he said coldly, "that you refrain from upsetting my wife. The events of the past month has shaken her badly. She will not admit it, but I know her better than that. She's ill. She doesn't need any more strain."

Anakin's face paled. "I… I'm sorry," he apologized quickly. "I didn't think."

Padmé sighed.

"It might help in the future if you did," Bail said.

Jaina glanced at Obi-Wan; he had a strange expression on his face. He looked half amused, half annoyed.

Breha returned moments later with the recording. She placed a playback device on the table in the centre of the room and activated it. A moment later, sound came through. Jaina heard the distinct noise of a door sliding open, followed by footsteps. Jaina tried to picture what was happening – this was when Anakin and Kyp had gone to confront Palpatine. She had heard what had happened, but now she could hear it – at least, part of it.

"_Chancellor Palpatine,"_ Anakin's voice said, as clearly as if there was a second Anakin speaking in the room.

"_Why, Anakin, what a pleasant surprise." _Palpatine's voice was falsely sweet and surprised sounding.

_He's a good actor, I'll give him that,_ Jaina thought.

"_And – pardon me – Master Durron, isn't it? A new Jedi to the Order, or so I have heard. To what honour do I owe this gracious visit? You're not usually accustomed to bringing friends along, Anakin."_

"_This isn't a surprise, Palpatine." _Anakin's voice sounded angry, menacing even. _"And it's not pleasant, either."_

"_I'm sorry? I must have misunderstood. Did I not greet you properly? Surely, Anakin, we're friends. I do not need to address you as Knight Skywalker, do I?"_

Jaina listened, cringing as she heard what thousands of others had already heard. With this recording, the way it was displayed and with Palpatine's acting, there was no wonder why thousands of people had joined the Empire's belief that the Jedi were evil. To them, here was proof that their own _hero_ – Anakin – had turned against them and attacked their leader. Jaina clenched her fists – Palpatine would stop at no lengths to give himself the upper hand. He had been preparing for that moment even before Anakin and Kyp had arrived, and he had used their attack against them – to great results.

"_Help! Help! Security – someone! Help me! Murder! Treason!__"_

The recording ended.

There was a prolonged silence.

Anakin's face was marked by a dark expression. His hands were gripping his lightsaber.

"I _hate_ him," he hissed under his breath.

Yoda looked at him. "A weapon of the Sith, hate is. Fuelled by it, you must not become."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Master Yoda," he said hotly, "this is _my_ territory, right? _I'm_ the one who has to go after him. _I'm_ the one who has to stop him and _I'm_ the one whose going to decide how to do that. If hating him helps me, then _good for me."_

Yoda shook his head and banged his gimer stick on the floor. "Learn what hate does, someday, you must."

"You're going after him?" Breha said, her voice high-pitched with surprise. "All of you?"

"Specifically," Anakin answered, "me. I have to."

"It's revenge for what he did to the Temple. For what Order Sixty-Six caused." Breha said it as a statement.

"Yes," Anakin said, clenching his fists. "But there's other reasons as well."

"I thought the Jedi didn't believe in revenge," Breha said.

Anakin laughed hollowly. "You know there's no peaceful solution to this, Breha," he said. "We crossed that point a long time ago. It's either going to be Palpatine or me, and that's the way it is."

Breha nodded. "He is hunting you down, then."

"He is searching for us, yes," Obi-Wan said. "But whether he is with his troops or not makes the difference. If he appears with his troops when they find us – if they find us – then we will have no choice but to attack him. It is the only way to stop him. But if he is not with his troops… then we will have to run. We do not have the power to continually face every legion of clones that comes after us."

Breha pressed the palms of her hands together. "If they come to Alderaan," she said, "I will do my best to divert their attention and keep them off the trail of the _Tantive IV._" Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Padmé. "I imagine that there is a special someone on board that ship right now," she added.

Padmé glanced down at her flat stomach. "Oh!" she said, smiling. "Yes, there is a very special someone on board that ship right now."

"Congratulations," Breha said. She looked a little sad as she spoke. "A healthy baby, I assume?"

"Yes," Padmé answered. "Born on the _Tantive IV_, in fact. And if I had the time and the right place, I would tell you everything, Breha, but the less information you know about my child, the better. What you don't know can't work against you if the Empire attempts to delve information out of you."

"The Empire won't be delving information out of her," Bail interrupted firmly.

"It's an understandable precaution, Bail," Breha told him.

"Precaution or not, you should come with us, Breha," Bail continued. "You won't be safe here for long if the Empire suspects you of any—"

"No," Breha said, cutting across him. "I will not be leaving with you, Bail. Alderaan's Senator is already a fugitive. I will not see her Queen become one as well. I have a duty to our people and I will _not_ abandon them in these dark times, whether you are concerned or not for my safety. I cannot run and hide."

Bail lowered his head. "I thought you would say that, Breha, but—"

"No more," Breha said. "Please. We have more important things to discuss, remember? I know what it is you want me to do. You want me to contact Mon Mothma and the other Senators who think the same as you."

"Yes, Breha," Padmé said. "We do. We can't reach them ourselves – every transmission will be traced to the _Tantive IV_ and we have to avoid as many skirmishes with Imperial forces as possible. But we _must_ put a plan into action. Mon Mothma opposes the formation of the Empire as much as Bail and I do – I know it. It goes against all of her beliefs. Contact her, Breha. Her and Terr Tanell and Fang Zar. They will give you a list of the others who think the same as we do. We need allies and we must start with those we have in the Senate if there is ever going to be an opposition for the Empire."

"I can act as your messenger," Breha answered. "If I have contact with you and your allies, then there can be a base of operations here on Alderaan. I can do everything in my power to oppose the Empire. Do you plan a rebellion, then? Will it come to war?"

"Peaceful negotiations are at an end," Anakin grunted.

"It will most likely be something like that," Jaina said. Everyone turned to her at the same moment, giving her quizzical looks. Kyp shook his head slightly at her. Jaina shrugged. Perhaps she should not have spoken, but she had said what Padmé must have been planning. When Mon Mothma's name had been said, Jaina's mind had begun whirling and she knew that she was witnessing the beginnings of the Rebellion.

Even though there should never have been a Rebellion.

"What of the Separatist Council?" Padmé mused softly. "Has there been any news of how they are dealing with the new Empire?"

"Padmé, they tried to kill you!" Anakin exclaimed. "If you're suggesting what I think you –"

"I'm not," Padmé interrupted. "The war was all but done before the creation of the Empire, but the Separatist Council was yet to be hunted down. They recently moved locations, and I –"

"They're dead," Breha said solemnly. "Nute Gunray and the rest of the Council. They're all dead. Only hours after the creation of the Empire, Palpatine dispatched a legion of clones to the Mustafar system—"

Jaina jumped. _Mustafar?_

"—where the Separatist Council had relocated," Breha finished. "They were assassinated. If you were thinking of a potential alliance with them, that choice is gone."

"How did he know where they were?" Padmé asked. "No one knew their location!"

"Hunting for them, some Jedi were," Yoda commented. "Yet to be found, the Separatist Council was."

Suddenly, Jaina caught a flicker of movement in the peripheral of her eye. She turned and saw that Obi-Wan had risen from his seat and was crossing the room.

"Obi-Wan," Anakin began, "what—?"

"Quiet!" Obi-Wan held up a hand for silence. "Not one more word from anyone." He had approached an exquisite painting that was hanging on the wall. He stared at it for a moment, his hand slowly unclipping his lightsaber from his belt as he examined the artwork. The group waited apprehensively.

"There's nothing unordinary about that painting, Master Kenobi," Breha said after a moment. "It has been in my family for decades –"

"Ah!" Suddenly, Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber and plunged the blue blade through the painting. He deactivated it and turned back to the group. "My apologies, your Majesty, but someone managed to fit a recording device into that painting."

"What?" Breha exclaimed. "How could they?"

"How they did it does not matter," Obi-Wan said calmly, "but what does is that the device has been transmitting our entire conversation. If they're not already here, they soon will be and something is telling me that Palpatine is not going to be with them." He shot a meaningful look at Anakin. "We have to get out. Now." He turned to Breha. "Which is the quickest way back to the docking bay?"

Breha's expression had blanched. She was gripping Bail's hand tightly. "I'll show you," she said, getting up.

They followed her to the entrance of the royal suite, but as soon as she opened the doors, alarms began to ring. Anakin jumped and ignited his lightsaber, a move followed by Jaina and Kyp.

"What's going on?" Padmé cried.

"Listen!" Anakin yelled.

They did. Moments later, they could hear the sounds of dozens of feet marching down the hall.

"_Clones," _Anakin hissed. "Shut the door!" He punched the button and the door slid closed. Immediately afterwards, he plunged his lightsaber into the wall and cut out a section – just enough to give him access to the wires.

"Anakin, what are you doing?" Padmé demanded.

"Buying us some time," he responded, deactivating his lightsaber and bending forwards to examine the wiring. "Bail, get everyone out of here. There has to be some way out. I don't care if you slide down a window or something, just get out. We won't be able to make it through this way."

"Bail," Breha said, "there's the other passage. You can get out that way." She glanced at Padmé. "Come on, I'll lead you there."

"No!" Padmé cried. "Anakin, you've got to come with us—"

"Padmé," Anakin snapped back, "I'm trying to hotwire this door so that they won't be able to break through as quickly. Without it, we might as well hand ourselves over. It's going to take a while, the wiring is really complex. Go on, get out of here."

"Anakin—"

"Padmé," Jaina interrupted, "he's right. Go on." She glanced at Anakin. "I'll stay with him."

Anakin stopped fiddling with wires. "What?!"

"You need all the help you can get," Jaina said. "You're not the only mechanic in here."

"Come on," Obi-Wan said. "Padmé, we need to go. They'll catch up with us later."

Padmé nodded and turned, following Breha and Bail into another set of rooms. Obi-Wan and Yoda followed her. Kyp remained behind for a moment. He gave Jaina a mock salute before dashing across the room and out of sight.

"Right," Jaina said, turning to inspect what they were dealing with. "What do we have?"

It was an immensely complex system. Jaina stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out from the mess of wire which one did what. She brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"I hate improvising," she grumbled under her breath as she reached in to disconnect a green wire.

"Careful!" Anakin warned. "I wouldn't move—" He stopped himself. The wire disconnected easily without giving Jaina a shock. He watched as she detached a black one and rewired it so it was connected to the green one. There was a loud click. Several moments later, they heard footsteps and banging on the door. It didn't open. There was muffled cursing from the other side.

Anakin grinned at Jaina. "How'd you do that?"

"I learned from the best," Jaina said smugly, thinking of her father as she grinned back. "But that won't hold it forever. It needs extra reinforcement, which means—"

"I know what you mean, give me a second!"

After several intense minutes where Anakin disconnected several wires and began to reroute them accordingly, there was a bang and a second door slid into place, reinforcing the first one.

"That should hold it," Anakin said. "Come on, we've got to catch up!"

Leaving the door, Anakin and Jaina dashed across the sitting room and through the doorway their friends had gone through minutes before. They found themselves in Breha's bedroom. The door to her wardrobe room was wide open and she was waiting patiently for them with Bail.

"It'll hold for some time," Anakin told her as he and Jaina entered. "It's the best we could do without tools."

Breha nodded tightly.

"Where are we going?" Jaina asked.

"Here," Breha said, leading the into the wardrobe room. It was filled with racks of the Queen's clothes and boxes of her shoes, but the most important detail was that there was an open trapdoor in the centre of the floor. "It leads to the outside of the palace," Breha said. "I have never had anyone use it before. There was never a need. Take the passage; the others are already ahead. Bail will lead you to one of our private landing pads. There should be a ship there that you can use. You can't risk going back to the _Tantive IV. _It should have either taken off by now or it will be guarded. I'm sorry. Now go! Go!"

Anakin nodded. "Thank you, Breha."

He climbed down through the trapdoor and disappeared into the dark. Jaina paused and looked at Bail and Breha.

"What about you?" she asked.

Breha glanced at Bail. "You have to go with them, love," she said softly to her husband. "I must stay. I the Queen. This is my planet and I will do everything in my power to stall them. The door will not hold forever."

"Breha—"

"Please." She held up a hand. "Go with her, Bail. For my sake, get yourselves out of here." She quickly kissed him and then drew away. "Go on! Get out of here!"

Jaina nodded and quickly climbed down through the trapdoor into the dark, dank passageway. She heard Bail coming down after her, followed by the sound of Breha shutting the trap door. The little light that there was vanished.

"Come on," Bail's cold voice said from out of the dark. "This way. We need to catch up."

They took off at a run down the narrow passageway, tripping over their feet in the dark.

* * *

Breha Organa returned to her sitting room and sat down quietly in her favourite chair, facing the door she knew the clones would enter through. Calmly, she folded her hands and waited, counting the seconds as they passed.

One… two… three…

Had she done enough to get Bail, Padmé and the Jedi away safely? The Empire was merciless. If they were caught, it would be the end of them. Palpatine had no mercy for traitors.

Forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven…

What would happen to her now? She would defend Alderaan with all of her being, defend Bail and the Jedi. She would never give in to the Empire. Someone had to stay behind and protect them. That was her duty. She had a duty to her people as well. The Empire sought to control them all; it went against the democracy that lived at the core of Alderaanian society.

One hundred and eight, one hundred and nine, one hundred and ten…

Breha waited. There was ceaseless pounding at the door as the clones attempted to break through. Anakin and Jaina's handiwork held. Breha only hoped that their mechanical magic was enough to give them the time they needed to get to the landing pad and get off of Alderaan before they were caught.

With an explosion of light, the door finally burst open and in stormed the clones, their blasters at the ready. Breha raised her chin, staring down the barrels of several blasters.

"Why have you come here?" she said, though it sounded more like a statement to her ears than a question.

"Breha Organa," the closest clone trooper said. "You are under arrest for treason against His Highness, Emperor Palpatine of the Galactic Empire. You will come with us."

Breha rose slowly from her seat.

"There is no need to point your blasters at me," she said icily and walked forwards with her head held high as she was escorted away from her rooms.

* * *

Jaina hated running in the dark, but there was no light available in the small, narrow passage. They were headed down. More than once, she tripped on a step as she ran, Bail only a few steps behind her. All the while, Jaina wondered how long Breha would be safe for before the clones arrived. What would they do to her then? She was the Queen of Alderaan. Surely they wouldn't kill her… It would have been safer if she had come with them. Yet, she had been adamant to stay.

Suddenly, a scream tore through Jaina's mind. She stumbled sideways into the passage's wall, gasping in pain. It was as if something was trying to physically pull her heart away from her body… She gasped, trying to stifle the scream building in her throat.

"Jaina!" Bail's voice seemed distant, yet he was there beside her. "Jaina, what is it?"

She closed her eyes, the pain mounting. There was something reaching out to her, two small presences flickering in her mind, calling to her. She could sense them, sense their fear and their anguish.

The twins.

Jaina's eyes snapped open.

_Shavit__!_


	36. Run

**CHAPTER XXXVI**

**Run**

Jaina stumbled forwards, barely aware of her surroundings. Her hands felt the smooth sides of the passage's walls, guiding her down the steps until it leveled out and she could run freely without fear of tripping down a flight of stairs. Bail ran behind her, trying to keep up with the desperate pace she was setting, calling her name and demanding to know if she was all right. Jaina couldn't answer; her throat was constricted, she couldn't vocalize a sound, let alone words.

The sound of her boots pattering on the floor made a dulled, rapid pattering noise as she attempted to run, lurching along the passage as fast as she could, trying to blot out the growing pain in her chest. She tried to get control of the whirling thoughts in her mind, but only one thought stayed clear: her mother was in danger, so much danger that there was a possibility that she could die.

If Leia died right here, right now on Alderaan, Jaina would die with her.

Palpatine evidently knew the best way to get rid of an interfering Jedi from the future: kill the Jedi's mother.

Leia was on the _Tantive IV_. Jaina didn't even know where she was; somewhere in the palace, but she could not even begin to try to figure out a route from her current position to the ship when she was trapped in a dark, secret passageway. Yet, if she didn't get to her infant mother before the clones did, Leia would most likely die. Jaina could feel it in her gut – she would not be in this much pain, sensing the twins' anguish through her connection to them in the Force, if that possibility was not adamantly true.

"Jaina!" Bail called. "Wait!"

Jaina barely heard him. She continued along at her pace, her thoughts focused on one thing only: getting to the _Tantive IV._ She rounded a tight corner in the passage and tripped on her own feet, falling forwards and skidding along the floor on her knees for a few feet. Wincing in pain, Jaina clasped a hand to her forehead, trying to concentrate on forcing the pain away. She closed her eyes, breathing heavily, and reached out to the Force.

It was as if a window in her mind had suddenly burst open – she felt the presences of Leia and Luke as clearly as if she was beside them. Indeed, for a brief moment, she _could_ see them, lying helpless in their cradles in Padmé's room. For the smallest of moments, Jaina thought she could hear them crying, accompanied by the sound of the clone troopers attempting to break into the room. She felt a panicked plea for help calling out to her and then the window closed and the twins' minds drew away.

"What's wrong with her? What happened?"

"I don't know, she just turned around the corner—"

"Let me by, Anakin!"

"No, wait! Just hold on a second—!"

"Bail, do you know what happened?"

Voices. They made Jaina's head hurt; she knew who was talking, but she couldn't distinguish one friend's voice from another. She clenched her teeth and gathered her strength, pulling herself upright. Her eyes were still held tightly shut.

"Bail…" She breathed deeply, but even that action was painful. "What… quickest way to _Tantive IV?!" _She gasped the words out and lurched to the side, colliding with a wall.

"Jaina," Bail said as calmly as he could, "there is a legion of clone troopers out there. If can't get back to the _Tantive IV—"_

"_Where?!"_ Jaina choked out, cutting him off. Her eyes snapped open and she looked around the tight passage at the faces of her companions. Every one of them looked confused and concerned. Jaina locked eyes with Kyp; there was a look of dawning comprehension of his face.

"Jaina," he breathed. "Tell me that's not happening. Please."

She clenched her fists and wiped sweat off her brow. "…It… _is."_

"Shavit," Kyp swore under his breath. He turned to Bail and spoke quickly. "Senator, is there another exit out of the passage? One close to where the _Tantive IV_ is docked?"

"Yes," Bail said. "There a hidden door about five hundred meters down from where we are. It leads out into the galleries on the first floor of the palace. It's close to the docking bay."

"Right," Kyp said. He stepped over to Jaina and put one of her arms over his shoulders; he began to half-carry, half-lead her down the passage. "We have to get back to the _Tantive IV."_

"But what's wrong with her?" Anakin exclaimed.

Before anyone could say anything else, Jaina had already made up her mind. Reaching out with the Force, she cleared her thoughts and focused on her sole objective: to rescue her infant mother and uncle. Shrugging off Kyp's support, she sprinted off down the tight corridor, fumbling with her lightsaber in an attempt to unclip it from her belt. The others watched her go for a moment, blankly astonished by her sudden newfound strength, and then shouted her name and chased after her.

Jaina barely noticed them.

She skidded to a halt at the exact spot Bail had mentioned. There was a hidden door in the wall; she could just make out the activation button. She was just about to palm it open when Padmé ran towards her and caught her arm.

"Jaina," she said rapidly, "what are you doing?!"

"Luke and Leia are in danger," Jaina hissed. It was all she had the breath to say. The pain was bubbling up inside her now and it was taking all her concentration and strength to keep it at bay. She saw Padmé's face pale in the dark of the passage before she palmed the door open.

Light flooded the passage; Jaina winced and stumbled out into the gallery. She ignited her lightsaber and ran. Dimly, she heard the others call her name, but she didn't turn and acknowledge them. There were clones on this level. They saw her running; they heard the humming of her lightsaber and opened fire.

Jaina disappeared into barrage of blaster fire.

* * *

"Jaina!" Padmé yelled, starting forwards and detaching a small, compact blaster from her belt. The clones heard her shout, and half of them turned towards the small opening in the wall.

"There they are!"

"Fire!"

Padmé threw herself to one side as the blaster bolts flew towards them. Anakin and Kyp, who had been standing directly behind her, withdrew to either side of the door. The blaster bolts flew through the opening and hit the narrow passageway's wall. Anakin hissed, igniting his lightsaber and leaping around the door, battering away blaster bolts. He saw Padmé dart across the floor of the gallery, jumping behind a tall column just in time to avoid being hit.

"Padmé!" His yell was strangled, engulfed by the sound of blaster fire. He darted forwards, only to have to jump back as a blaster bolt impacted the floor where he had been standing moments before.

"Anakin!"

Suddenly, everything was all lightsabers and blaster fire. Every clone in the gallery opened fire on them; the barrage was endless. Bolts flew in every direction, flying towards them, bouncing off a lightsaber blade, and then returning. Anakin dove at the floor, rolled over to avoid getting hit and then sprang to his feet once more. He looked around wildly; he couldn't see Padmé or Jaina. They had disappeared.

"Ouch!"

Anakin stumbled forwards, looking down at his leg where a blast had grazed the skin. He winced, trying to ignore the pain, and limped towards where the others were engaged in a furious fight to prevent being slaughtered by blaster bolts.

"Anakin," Bail shouted, "we can't stay! We're not going to make it through!"

Already, they were being forced to retreat backwards into the passage. Anakin caught sight of Yoda, his green lightsaber swinging rapidly to deflect the bolts aimed at him; then he saw the rest of the gallery. It was filled with clones, and more were arriving each second. There was only one way out – back into the passage.

But Padmé was still out there.

"I can't!" he shouted back. "I have to find Padmé!"

"Anakin," Obi-Wan yelled, "now!"

In a confused tangle of minutes where he lost track of what was happening, Anakin suddenly found himself back inside the passageway. Bail palmed the door closed, locking and sealing it. Anakin leaned against the wall, staring at the door in horror.

"Padmé's still out there," he hissed.

"So is Jaina," Kyp growled, "in case you've forgotten." He was panting and looked thoroughly worn out.

Anakin clenched his fists. "Let me back out there!"

"You'll die!" Bail snapped. "Even for a Jedi such as yourself, you would never be able to make it through when you're wounded like that!"

Anakin glared at him for a moment, knowing that what the Senator said was true, but he wanted to prove him wrong anyhow. Instead of speaking, Anakin examined at the wound on his leg. It was ugly and bleeding profusely, but it was not deep. At any rate, there wasn't much he could do about it at the moment.

"One choice, we have," Yoda said. The Jedi Master, too, looked tired. "Continue on, we must."

"And what about Padmé?" Anakin hissed.

"They're all right for now," Obi-Wan said quietly. "I believe we distracted the clones long enough for them to slip away."

"How do you know that?" Anakin snapped.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Anakin," he said firmly, "Jaina and Padmé can both take care of themselves. Besides, I'm sure if something… bad… had happened to them, you would have sensed it. Correct?"

Anakin growled, but didn't say anything else. Instead, he carefully put his weight back on to his injured leg, wincing, and limped off down the passage. "Come on," he said, his voice low. "The sooner we get out of this thing, the better. How much farther to go, Bail?"

"Not far," the Senator replied, speeding up his space. He took the lead, and began to run down the dark passageway, the others not far behind him.

* * *

When Padmé reached the end of the gallery, she glanced over her shoulder and felt a slight panic as she saw Anakin dive out of the way of the blaster bolts the clones were firing. Lightsabers ignited, batting away the worst of the barrage, but soon her friends were engulfed in light and sound. There was no going back from here; now that she was out of the passage, Padmé would have to go on to the _Tantive IV_ – there was no way she would be able to reach the passage again.

_Anakin will be fine,_ she told herself firmly as she gripped her blaster and ran out of the gallery. The next hall was empty; it wasn't too far from here to the docking bay. Padmé took a deep breath and began to sprint down the hall. She was almost at the end when she heard the sound of thundering feet drawing nearer and nearer every second. Skidding to a halt, she turned and dove behind the nearest column, crouching low to the floor as what must have been a full regiment of clones marched through the hall, heading towards the gallery at top speed.

Padmé waited for them to pass, her heart beating frantically in her chest, her hand gripping her blaster even tighter. _Oh, please, Anakin,_ she prayed softly to herself, _get out of there. _She shouldn't have left him there; he was stubborn, he would insist on fighting until the end until he found her. He could end up getting himself killed – and yet, Padmé knew that she had had to leave. She had made that split second decision, because after hearing Jaina's frantic words, she knew in her heart that her children were in terrible danger. She could sense it.

She waited, barely daring to breath, keeping as still as possible. Her muscles were cramped, but she didn't dare move from her spot. No one had noticed her yet. If she moved, they would see her –

A small movement caught her eye. Padmé spared a quick glance to her left and saw Jaina, her face pale, crouching behind a nearby large, decorative statue. The Jedi's lightsaber was inactive, though she clutched it tightly in her hand. She was trembling, her eyes shut, her mouth moving rapidly as she spoke silently to herself. Jaina's eyes snapped open for a moment and she looked wildly around at Padmé. She nodded briefly in the direction of a small archway close to where they were.

Padmé glanced at the regiment of clone troopers marching down the hall. They were distracted, thinking only of their assault on the gallery… if they moved fast enough, perhaps the clones would not notice. Padmé caught Jaina's eye and nodded. Biting her lower lip, the Senator cast one more look at the marching clones before she darted, crouching close to the ground, to the next column and hid in its shadow. Up ahead, Jaina darted into the darkness beyond the arch, disappearing from view. Padmé took a deep breath and lunged several feet down the hall to the next column.

_Please,_ she thought, keeping low to the ground, _please, just go on… Don't look around. _

Her heart was pounding in her chest as the clones continued their endless march. Padmé glanced around at the archway one more time – she was only a few feet away. She could make it. Steeling herself, she slowly turned her back to the column and darted across to the archway. She ducked through into the dark corridor and immediately felt someone grab her hand and pull her aside, out of view from the hall.

Padmé forced herself not to yell in surprise.

"Jaina?" she breathed.

"…let's go," the Jedi whispered back, stumbling forwards as she moved down the corridor. Padmé followed as quickly as possible. They were so close to the docking bay now; they could make it in time.

The corridor was deserted, and soon they came to a flight of stairs. Jaina was still in the lead; she grasped hold of the railing and used it to aid her ascent. She was breathing hard, her face covered with sweat and contorted with pain. Padmé could not understand the reason behind her sudden ailment – what could have possibly caused it? Did it have something to do with time travel?

Or had something happened back in Breha's apartment?

Suddenly, the Jedi let out a gasp and collapsed on the stairs.

"Jaina!"

Padmé rushed forwards and caught hold of her friend's arm. She knelt on the stairs next to her, anxiously peering at her face. Her eyes were closed.

"Jaina!" Padmé called worriedly. "Jaina, can you hear me?"

The Jedi's lips were moving slowly. Her breath was uneven. "…it's getting worse," she mumbled. "Leia… Luke—"

Padmé froze, feeling her throat constrict with fear.

"You know what's happening to them?" she asked.

Jaina's eyes opened. "…hurry," she murmured, grabbing the railing and pulling herself upright. Then she continued on, using the rail as support, running to the top of the stairs as fast as she could. Padmé ran along beside her, her thoughts anxiously going over every possible scenario in her mind. Her children were in danger, and somehow they were linked to Jaina. How, she didn't know – yet. Through some trick of the Force, the twins were as much a part of Jaina as she was of them. Padmé had seen it before on the _Tantive IV_, right after they had been born.

And unless some outer force was influencing Jaina, that link was somehow slowly torturing her to death. Padmé pursed her lips as she ran; what did it mean? She couldn't think clearly. There was something she was missing, some fact she had overlooked.

At the moment, however, that did not matter. All that mattered now were her children. Jaina said they were in danger, and Padmé did not doubt it.

How much time had gone by, Padmé could not even begin to hazard a guess. The two women ran – Jaina lurching along at as rapid a pace she could manage, Padmé helping her – running towards the docking bay. When they plunged through the final doorway, neither of them even stopped to consider the forces they would have to face guarding the _Tantive IV._ Padmé merely tightened her grip on her blaster and Jaina ignited her lightsaber.

Together, they entered the docking bay.

To their surprise, there was no one there. The ships lay silently, as if they were abandoned.

Padmé drew up short. "What's going on?"

"There!" Jaina hissed, pointing at the lowered ramp of the _Tantive IV._ She ran off towards the ship, her lightsaber casting a violet glow around her. Padmé sprinted after her; they arrived at the base of the ramp at the same time, and darted up it into the ship.

It was eerily quiet.

Too quiet.

"What's going on?" Padmé breathed, looking around. _We can't have been too late!_ she thought desperately. Just as the thought crossed her mind, the sound of blaster fired echoed down from one of the corridors. Padmé glanced wildly at Jaina, who barely looked at her as she darted off down the hall again.

After several twists and turns in the corridors, it became obvious what exactly was happening: the clones _had_ boarded the _Tantive IV,_ and now Captain Antilles and his crew were doing their best to keep them at bay. At each junction, stray bolts ricocheted off the walls from the battles raging in the halls. Jaina deflected a few out of the way, but never broke her stride as she continued running. Padmé knew exactly where they were going – her quarters were not too far away now, and the twins…

She forced herself not to think about the possibilities.

At that moment, Padmé and Jaina simultaneously skidded to a stop in front of the door to Padmé and Anakin's room. Jaina hurriedly palmed the door open and threw herself through the doorway, her lightsaber raised.

A blaster bolt flew by her head; Padmé ducked to avoid being hit as she, too, entered the room.

One look was all she needed – and it was all the time she had for.

There were three clones in the room, and another one lying dead on the floor. Bail's aide, Sheltay Retrac, was standing in front of the twins' cradles, a blaster in one hand. She had a cut lip, but she stared down at her attackers with her head held high. The bodies of two of the crew lay limply on the floor at her feet, having given their lives in an attempt to protect her and the twins.

Padmé raised her blaster and fired at the backs of the clone troopers just as Jaina lunged at them. Time seemed to speed up; Padmé could barely catch what had happened before there was a flash of violet light and the clones fell dead on the floor. Jaina drew back, brushing her hair out of her eyes, and deactivated her lightsaber. Padmé slowly lowered her hand and looked at Sheltay.

"Luke?" she asked. "Leia?"

Bail's aide set her blaster aside. "They're safe," she said, stepping away from the cradles.

Padmé dropped her blaster and rushed forwards, relief washing over her as she reached her son and daughter. Neither of them were crying, much to her surprise. Luke looked up at her calmly, his blue eyes bright with some sort of understanding. He briefly brushed her hand with his and then fell back asleep. Padmé picked up Leia, who uttered a soft cry, and held her daughter close.

Turning around, Padmé looked at Jaina, who was straightening. Colour was returning to her face and she looked stronger than she had been several moments before.

"Are you all right?" Padmé asked.

"Yes," Jaina said, her eyes briefly glancing at Luke and Leia. "I'm fine now." She gripped her lightsaber hilt tightly. "Listen, Padmé," she said, "there are still clones onboard. How many, I don't know, but you _have_ to stay here with the twins, just incase any of them come back. I have to go help the crew. And after that—" Jaina took a deep breath – "I'm going back to find Kyp and the others."

"What?" Padmé exclaimed. "But you can't! You'll get caught –"

"We didn't get caught coming here," Jaina interrupted, her voice flat. "I have to do this, Padmé. I have to get back to them." She made to leave the room, but Padmé caught her arm.

"Jaina," Padmé said, "don't do this. They're coming back; they'll meet up with us."

Jaina shook her head. "Luke and Leia are safe," she said. "And I'm fine now. I have to make sure Anakin is as well." She turned and made to leave the room. She paused at the door and glanced over her shoulder. "Stay on board, Padmé," she said. "Please." She smiled tightly before disappearing around the corner.

Padmé held her daughter tight, staring at the spot Jaina had just left. She frowned, her thoughts whirling as her mind tried to process the reasons Jaina was acting the way she was. Her overwhelming anxiety for the twins had gone past normal concern, which Padmé had found very odd. Jaina had formed a strong bond with the twins after their birth, one that was very close to the bond Padmé herself had with the children. On top of that, Jaina had somehow sensed through the Force that the twins were in life-threatening danger when Anakin himself hadn't sensed it.

What was going on? The mystery behind the strange Jedi had just become deeper, yet Padmé felt that she was closer to finding out the truth than ever before. She briefly absentmindedly recalled the conversation she had had with Jaina about her home and family.

"Oh," Padmé breathed.

"What is it?" Sheltay asked.

Padmé glanced down at her infant daughter, who was now sleeping soundly in her arms, and looked at Sheltay.

"I think," Padmé said slowly, "everything is starting to make sense now."

Time travel.

Fifty years from the future.

Jedi Knight.

An inconceivably strong bond with the twins. A physical similarity to Padmé herself, a similar personality to Anakin's—

How did she not see it before? Padmé could only feel shock, accompanied by a strange sense of wonder. She swallowed hard.

_Oh, great spirits… She's my granddaughter._


	37. Enemies of the Empire

**CHAPTER XXXVII**

**Enemies of the Empire**

_Damn the clones,_ Kyp thought savagely as he ran along the final stretches of the dark, narrow passage. _Damn Palpatine for sending them instead of coming himself,_ he added. _If he had come, then this would have all been over. Jaina wouldn't be in danger of losing her life if the clones kill the twins._

Of course, that was the whole reason Palpatine had sent the clones in the first place. An easy way to successful dispose of Jaina without having to confront her himself. The twins were her weak link and as long as they were living in the past, they always would be.

His mind tried to find hers through the Force, but all he sensed was a confused tangle of pain and will. She was still alive, and fighting, but for how long? Had the twins been rescued yet, or not?

"How much farther?" Anakin growled.

"Here!" Bail shouted, coming to a halt. He examined the wall and hit a concealed switch. A door slid open and Bail ushered the Jedi out of the passageway.

They were in a garden. Plants and flowers grew in abundance, decoratively trimmed and cared for. The palace towered above them, reaching high into the bright sky. The sun was shining brightly. Bail closed the door and led them through a tangle of trees and on to the garden path that ran parallel to the wall of the palace. He walked swiftly along it for several meters before leading them away into the trees again.

"Safe, we are," Yoda said presently. "For the moment."

"Yes," Bail said.

"Now what?" Anakin asked. There was a strange expression on his face, a mixture of anxiety and aggravation. "We have to find Padmé and Jaina!"

"But we can't cross the palace to the main docking bay," Obi-Wan mused. "There are too many clones."

Anakin growled and threw his hands up in the air. "We have to do something!"

"And we will," Bail said. "This is Breha's private garden. Over there—" he pointed to a spot further up along the garden path – "is an entrance to the palace. Two floors up from there is a small landing pad. There is a transport there. If we can get to it, then we can give Captain Antilles orders to meet us somewhere safe."

"And how are you going to do that?" Anakin snapped, irritated.

Bail withdrew a comlink. "With this."

Anakin stared at him. "You had a comm? Why didn't you contact the ship earlier?"

"Because there wasn't time and there was nothing the captain could have done while we were in the palace," Bail answered shortly. He turned away and spoke quickly into the comm, his voice low. While he was conversing with Captain Antilles, Anakin paced around, biting his fingernails.

"She better be all right," Anakin hissed, partially to himself but loud enough for Kyp to hear as he passed by. "If not, then Jaina better have some explaining to do."

"She what?" Bail's voice exclaimed suddenly.

Anakin drew up short. "She what?" he demanded.

Bail paused and turned to him. "Padmé's safe," he said. "They were almost swarmed under by the clones, but she and Jaina arrived just in time."

A look of relief washed over Anakin's face and he relaxed.

"Wait," Kyp said. "You said Padmé's safe… what about Jaina?"

"She left the _Tantive IV_ after helping to dispose of the clones," Bail said. "No one could stop her. Padmé is still with the ship, but Jaina must be somewhere in the palace. She's looking for us."

"Sithspit!" Kyp cursed under his breath. "Why can't she stay in one place?" he growled.

"This is not good," Obi-Wan said rapidly. "She doesn't know where we are and there are hundreds of clones swarming the palace. We have to get back inside and find her before reaching the landing platform."

Anakin's nostrils flared. "Trust Jaina to complicate things," he hissed.

"Look," Obi-Wan said quickly, "there's only one thing we can do. We have to get to that landing platform before the clones do. Kyp, you and I will have to find Jaina on our own."

"To the landing platform, the rest of us will go," Yoda concluded.

"No," Anakin growled. His eyes met Kyp's and his expression became determined. "I'm just as concerned for Jaina as the rest of you are. I'm coming with you."

Obi-Wan caught his arm. "Anakin, now's not the time for rash actions. All of our lives are at risk. You need to get back to Padmé."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Anakin snapped, pulling away. "I'm coming with you to find Jaina." He glanced at Kyp again.

Kyp's eyes narrowed. There was something that was worrying Anakin that he was not saying.

"Very well," Yoda said. "At the landing platform, meet you, we will."

"Once we reach there, it will be easy enough to fly to the _Tantive IV,"_ Bail said. "I've left instructions with Captain Antilles to meet us in a secluded vale away from the palace." He drew a spare comm out of his pocket and tossed it to Anakin. "Here," he said as the Jedi caught it with one hand. "Since you seem to have lost yours. Use it to contact us if something comes up."

Anakin nodded as he attached the comm to a convenient spot on the collar of his robes.

"Right," Kyp said. "Let's go." He started up the path towards the palace. Anakin followed.

"May the Force be with you," Yoda called out.

"And with you," Obi-Wan answered before running after Kyp and Anakin.

Breha's expansive private garden provided enough protection that the Jedi were not seen by the clones from the windows above. Thus, their trip back inside the palace proved uneventful, even though they traveled as stealthily as they could. Once at the palace wall, they crept back inside, finding themselves in a wide hall. They ran half-way down it, unsure of where to go, when Kyp suddenly skidded to a halt.

Anakin paused. "What are you doing?" he hissed. "She could be anywhere! We don't have time to stop!"

"Just _wait_, would you?" Kyp snapped back. He closed his eyes, trying to block out everything else that might provide distraction. His mind searched for one thing, and one thing only – Jaina.

_Jaina?_ he ventured.

Suddenly, there she was, only half-way across the palace from the place they were standing. Her presence burned brightly in the Force; she was still alive and fighting. Her thoughts did not respond verbally, but she sent a reassuring feeling back to him through their connection. Kyp smiled slightly and opened his eyes again, looking up at Anakin and Obi-Wan.

"She's close," he said. "On the same floor and coming towards us. I'll lead."

He took off at a run, Anakin and Obi-Wan sprinting behind him. All three were clutching their lightsabers firmly in their fists, ready to activate them in case they ran into any clones.

"How… how do you know?" Anakin asked, panting for breath as they ran down the hall and skidded to the left through an archway.

"Never mind," Kyp shot back over his shoulder. "It'll take too long to explain!"

Kyp heard Anakin hiss something undistinguishable under his breath, but he didn't bother to ask what that was. All three of them had too much on their minds to worry about what the others were saying; they had a job to do and it was only with luck that any of them would make it out alive.

* * *

As Prince Consort of the Queen of Alderaan, Bail knew the palace layout by heart. He had used this knowledge for a number of things in the past – meetings with other Senators, balls hosted by the Royal Family – but never would he have guessed that his knowledge of the layout would be put to the test in such a manner as this. Of course, he would never have imagined that he would have to escape from his own home.

Still, that did not stop him from putting his knowledge to good use. There were several ways up to the landing platform, and while the clones had spread out in their hunt for the renegades, Bail found that there were several easy ways to evade them, mostly by using the handful of rarely used passages that were easily overlooked.

Unfortunately, even if they were using the unused passageways and stairs, that did not mean that there would not be clone troopers waiting for them around each corner. Bail was armed with a blaster, while Yoda's lightsaber was never out of his grip, his fingers ready to activate it at the first sign of trouble.

Thankfully, the first sign of trouble never came.

Though tensions were high and the sound of hundreds of clones moving throughout the palace echoed down the halls along with the sounds of their voices, Bail and Yoda soon found themselves at the landing platform without any trouble. The transport was there, untouched by the clones.

Now they only had to wait – if that was possible.

Bail leaned against the side of the transport and looked down at Yoda.

"Should I contact them?" he asked.

"Come, they will," he answered, "when they can."

"I'm worried," Bail admitted. "If Jaina had stayed in one place, then we wouldn't have had this problem. They could be killed out there."

"Masters of the Force, all three of them are," Yoda replied. "But worried, you have a right to be, Senator. Many clones there are, enough to take down even the most powerful Jedi."

"That is _exactly_ what concerns me," Bail said. "Do you think –"

"Move!" Yoda barked.

A blaster bolt came flying out of nowhere – Bail ducked and it flew over him, passing by the transport and smashing into the side of the wall. Sparks flew in every direction from the impact. In an instant, Yoda's green lightsaber ignited with a _snap-hiss._ A second bolt flew their way and bounced off the blade, crashing into the stone floor.

Five clone troopers rounded the corner, each of them firing bolts at the Senator and the Jedi Master standing beside the transport. Yoda's lightsaber acted as a roaming shield, deflecting the bolts at every turn as Bail returned fire with his blaster. However, soon the air was sizzling with blaster fire and the sound of harsh clone voices as more and more soldiers came around the corner and fired at their prey.

"We can't stay here!" Bail shouted above the sound of crackling blaster bolts.

"Agree, I do," Yoda said quickly. "Hold, we cannot."

"What about Obi-Wan and Anakin and Kyp?" Bail asked. Suddenly, he cried out as a bolt slipped past Yoda's lightsaber and grazed his knee. Bail's damaged leg momentarily gave out and he fought for balance as he glanced at Yoda, wincing. "Can we wait?" He asked the question even though he already knew the answer.

Yoda shook his head.

"Get in," Bail said. "Anakin has my other comm; we'll contact him once we're in the air."

Fleeing the blaster bolts, Bail and Yoda escaped into the transport. Sitting down in the pilot's chair, Bail quickly activated the engines and prepared for flight. A bolt hit the side of the transport, exploding in a shower of sparks.

Bail activated his comm.

"Anakin, where are you?" he shouted.

There was no response.

"Anakin?!"

There was the sound of lightsabers deflecting blaster bolts and a sudden panting, then Anakin's voice came online.

"We… we're all right," he said, gasping for breath. "We're trying to get to the platform—"

"Anakin," Bail said quickly, glancing at the clones as they continued to shoot at the transport, "we're onboard, but we have to leave, the shields won't hold."

Anakin cursed.

"What… what do we do, then?"

"Do you have Jaina?"

No reply.

Bail swore and pulled on the yoke, forcing the transport up and outwards, away from the blaster fire. "Anakin," Bail said, "we're going back to the ship. Follow if you can—"

"We can't," Anakin's voice barked, suddenly back online. "We have Jaina, but we're surrounded. We can't get to you in time. If you're under fire, get out of there!"

Bail steered the transport down towards the docking bay where the _Tantive IV_ waited. He could see flashes of red – more clones had come, but the crew was managing to keep them at bay and away from the ship. "Listen to me, then," he began, but Anakin's voice cut across him.

"No time!" he shouted. "Jaina – MOVE!"

The rest was a crackle of lightsabers and blaster bolts, and then connection was severed.

Bail swore and looked at Yoda.

Their companions were in trouble, and without connection to Anakin's comm, there was no way to help them.

* * *

When Jaina had left the _Tantive IV_ in order to find her companions and verify that they were safe, she had never thought about the trouble she would cause them. She had been running across the palace in a mad dash to avoid clone troopers and find her friends as quickly as possible when Kyp's presence had filled her mind, trying to contact her. She had been so distracted by this that she had almost been hit from behind by the clones that were chasing her. Unable to think clearly enough while she fought them off and continued her escape, she had only had enough time to send Kyp the reassurance that she was still alive and the location where she was fighting.

It took Kyp, Anakin and Obi-Wan only minutes to cross the palace and find her, jumping into the fray with their lightsaber ignited. Kyp had several well-chosen words to say to her at that point as they fought off a barrage of blaster bolts – words that Jaina knew full-well to be true, but chose to ignore anyways.

"Durron," she had shouted at him as she ducked behind a pillar to avoid being hit, "do you really think know is the best time for lectures?!"

He saw her point almost immediately.

Then Bail's message had come through on Anakin's comm and their cause seemed almost lost, even though they continued to work their way upwards to the landing platform on the floor above. They were completely surrounded by clones and there was no other way to go. Even if they wanted to, there was no way they could fight their way through the small army that had invaded the palace and return to the _Tantive IV_ alive.

They were trapped.

"Jaina!" Anakin's voice shouted in her ear. "MOVE!"

Jaina threw herself flat on the floor as Anakin flew in a Force-enhanced jump over her and crashed into the clone trooper who had been sneaking up behind them. With one quick slash of his blade, Anakin killed his opponent and flicked his lightsaber backwards to deflect a bolt aimed at his back.

Jaina clambered to her feet, ducking as another bolt went whizzing past her head.

_We can't stay here any longer,_ she thought. _It's only a matter of time before we get slaughtered. There's too many of them. _

Her eyes scanned the area and then she saw a narrow archway behind one of the decorative white pillars. She raised her voice as she ducked another bolt. "This way!"

She took off at a run.

"Jaina!" Kyp yelled. "Where are you going?"

She spun, her violet blade accidentally deflecting a blaster bolt towards him. Kyp jumped aside and knocked the bolt towards one of the clones, who dropped to the floor upon impact. Kyp stared at her. She shrugged and tilted her head in the direction of the archway.

_You don't know where it goes!_ Kyp's thoughts yelled at her.

_It's better than staying here, it's the only way out! _Jaina shouted back. _Have you looked around lately, Durron? All the exits are blocked – except that one!_

She was praying that the reason for that was that the clones had merely overlooked it.

"All right!" Kyp shouted at her after quickly glancing around the hall. "Anakin, Obi-Wan!"

They looked at him and sprinted towards Jaina as she turned and fled towards the archway.

It was dark in the corridor, but there was a staircase leading upwards. Jaina dashed up it without question, taking the steps two at a time. Her companions followed quickly. Their lightsabers cast a strange array of moving violet, blue and crimson lights on the walls. It was strangely eerie.

Step after step, they ran upwards. The staircase seemed to go on forever. How high it went, none of them were sure as there were no lights, for whatever reason. Suddenly, the staircase ended and Jaina stumbled out into bright light and another enormous hall – which was guarded by a dozen clones. They turned her way, their blasters at the ready.

Jaina froze. "Sithspit!"

"Keep moving!" Anakin shouted. "We can take them!"

Jaina dashed out of the way, throwing herself at the ground as blaster bolts flew over her head. Anakin emerged out of the darkness after her and swore loudly, but threw himself into the action anyways, his lightsaber spinning.

Tired as she was, Jaina forced her body into action as she joined Anakin in fighting off the clones. She tried to count them up as she did an intricate dance between the blaster fire and the lightsabers of her companions. There _were_ only a dozen.

A dozen was easily dealt with.

She hoped.

It was only a few minutes later when she found out that she was right. A dozen clones against four powerful Jedi – though weakened by an extended battle – did not stand a chance. When Anakin killed their last enemy with a slash of his blade, he paused and looked around for any further attacks. Seeing any, he finally paused for a breath.

Jaina looked at him, wiping sweaty hair out of her face. Their lightsabers were still ignited, humming in time with each other.

"Now what do we do?" she said. "We're on the second floor – maybe the third, I'm not sure how long that staircase was."

"They're forcing us upwards," Obi-Wan said. "Soon, there'll be nowhere to go."

"Heh." Kyp rubbed the back of his palm across his forehead. "It's as if we're being hunted. Like animals."

"That's not a particularly pleasant feeling," Obi-Wan commented darkly, "being the hunted."

"We are enemies of the Empire now," Anakin said, still breathing hard. He glanced down at his comm and tapped it experimentally. "Hey, it's still working!" he exclaimed. "Bail? Bail, do you read me?"

Jaina straightened, crossing her fingers in hope that Anakin would be able to get through.

"Anakin!" Bail Organa's voice crackled through the comm. "You're alive!"

"Where are you?" Anakin demanded.

The sound of blaster fire, crackled by static, came through on the comm. Anakin's expression hardened.

"We've landed in the docking bay," Bail said after a pause. "The ship is surrounded, but we've managed to keep the clones _out._"

"Padmé?"

"She's safe inside, guarding the twins. The crew is out here, fighting off the clones. Whie and Scout are with them."

"Bail, is there any other way out of the palace?" Anakin asked hurriedly. "The clones are forcing us upwards."

A crackle of static.

"Where are you?"

"I don't know," Anakin began. "Third or second floor, maybe—"

Jaina sighed and rolled her eyes. She sprinted across the hall to the first window she came to and looked out. There was a large expanse of garden below and a lake and forested area near the horizon. There were also several snow-capped mountains. She looked over her shoulder and shouted at Anakin.

"There's a garden below us," she called. "Quite far below and you can see a lake off at the horizon. It's surrounded by forest and snow-capped mountains. One is rather irregularly shaped – kind of like the profile of a manollium bird head."

Anakin smiled tightly and shook his head as he relayed the information to Bail.

"You're on the third floor looking east," Bail said. "I know the view from the window in that hall. You are in a hall, correct?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now listen carefully. One floor directly above Breha's quarters – this is near the top of the palace – there is a small private ship. It will be hard to get to with the clones hunting you down, but I'm sure you can manage it. It is hyperspace worthy, so if you cannot reach the _Tantive IV,_ you still have a means of escape."

"How do we get to it?" Anakin asked.

More static. Anakin exchanged looks with Obi-Wan, who was looking concerned, his eyes flashing over to the archway they had come out of. He was clearly worried about clones following them up.

"Bail, how do we get to it?" Anakin repeated, his voice edged with tension.

There was no reply.

"Kriff!" Anakin swore loudly.

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps coming up the staircase, followed by the sound of voices.

Clones.

The four Jedi exchanged looks and then ran towards the nearest staircase, dashing up it as fast as they could. They managed to disappear from the hall just in time. Moments later, clones filed in, their blasters at the ready, looking for their escaped prey.

* * *

Bail threw himself to one side as a well-aimed blaster bolt flew over his head and hit the transport behind him. With the transport's shields long gone, the docking bay was suddenly alight in fire as flames erupted and metal exploded outwards. Bail felt small pieces of shattered metal hit his arms and legs, but he had managed to protect his head. Feeling the heat of the burning remains of the transport, he rolled over and got to his feet, firing his blaster at the clone trooper standing directly in front of him.

He sprinted across towards the crew of the _Tantive IV._

"Senator!" Captain Antilles shouted, having just enough time to take his eyes off the battle to glance at him. "We can't hold them off any longer!"

"What about the palace guard?" Bail demanded. "Have they shown up at all?"

Antilles shook his head. "No, sir. I'm assuming they were taken into custody soon after our arrival here. They have already taken the Queen – we saw her being escorted towards their ships from a distance."

Bail froze. His eyes flattened. He flinched as a bolt missed him by inches.

"And it's worse," Antilles continued. "There's an armada of Imperial ships down there, waiting for us. It's going to be almost impossible to escape."

Bail remained in stony silence for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "Not unless we leave now."

"Senator?"

"We're leaving," Bail said coldly. "Order a retreat, Captain."

"What of the Jedi?" Antilles asked. "General Kenobi and Knight Skywalker? Are they all right?"

Bail glanced upwards and then down at his dead comm. "They'll find their own way out," he murmured. "May the Force help them."

Dodging the relentless waves of fire, Bail managed to make it up the ramp and into the relative safety of the ship. Behind him, he heard Captain Antilles giving the orders for a retreat.

Bail paced down the corridors of the _Tantive IV,_ a coldness sweeping over him. They should never have come here. Everything in their plan had backfired. The clones had come to hunt them down, but Palpatine had not been drawn out. Breha had been put at undue risk and now she was captured by the Empire and no doubt facing torture. And now Anakin, Obi-Wan, Kyp and Jaina were lost to them as well – they had no way to contact them anymore, as the comms were broken. Only the Force would know if they made it out alive.

"Bail?"

He looked up. Padmé was standing in front of him, a blaster gripped in one hand. Her expression was tense, the corners of her lips tight. Her brown eyes locked with his, asking the question he knew she wanted an answer to.

"They're not coming," he said.

Padmé's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, Padmé," Bail told her, trying to walk past her. "But we got separated. They're cornered at the top of the palace with only one way out. We have no way of contacting them. Let's hope that they can get out on their own."

She stepped in front of him. "I don't believe what I'm hearing!" she said. "You're _leaving_ them? How can you?"

"Padmé," Bail said harshly, "I have no choice! We're surrounded by Imperial troops with no way of getting to them. We can't stay here and wait for them to get their ship down to the docking bay. If we're going to evade capture, we must leave _now."_ He brushed passed her and continued down the corridor.

"But you can't!" Padmé cried. "You can't do that!"

"We have to," Bail replied, without looking back.

Padmé followed him. "My husband is out there," she said coldly.

"And my wife is captured," Bail hissed back, his tone dark.

Padmé's expression softened. "Bail," she murmured. "I… I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he growled. "Do your part. We're leaving. Prepare for take-off. The _Tantive IV_ is leaving Alderaan – without the Jedi."

He turned and began to walk away. This time Padmé did not follow him, but her despair was almost tangible. After several steps, Bail paused and looked over his shoulder at her. She fixed him with an ice-cold glare.

"I'm truly am sorry, Padmé," he said. "There's nothing more than I can do except hope for the best. Your husband is a Jedi Knight. He'll find his way out."

She lifted her chin. "I never thought that my family would be betrayed by one we called friend."

Bail looked back at her. "This is not a betrayal," he said quietly. "I've done the best I can – and no one can ask more than that." He paused. "It's wait for them and die, or leave this place and live, Padmé. I had to make the choice that would best benefit all of us."

She looked away. "I know," she murmured. "I know. It's what any of us would do."

He had never seen her look more hurt than she did now. Guilt plagued him as he turned and walked away, but Bail knew that he could not have made any other decision than this.

He just prayed that the Jedi would make it out alive.

* * *

The comm was broken. Anakin could tell that even as they ran up the stairs and he didn't even have a chance to look at it. Their connection with Bail was severed.

Which put them at an infinite disadvantage.

Still, his instructions were clear enough. There was a hyperspace worthy ship directly above Breha's private quarters. How they would get there, Anakin didn't know, and if there were clones waiting for them, he didn't know either. But that did not matter – that's where they were headed and nothing was going to stop them now. They didn't have time to stop.

The enemy was at their heels.

Though their lightsabers remained ignited, they did not turn and fight, but continued to run. They had managed to reach the grand staircases that they had used before when visiting Breha before all hell had broken loose.

Everything had become a blur of running and panting. They did not have time to talk, they did not have time to stop for breath. They continued on, pushing their bodies as far as they could go, running on adrenaline and fear of what would happen should they stop.

Anakin knew that he would probably not survive another full-on assault by the clones. There were too many of them for even the Chosen One. A Jedi could fight off a dozen, but hundreds at a time? No. Their strength was in their numbers, something which Palpatine had evidently known when he had had them created for the Republic's army.

And now they were loyal servants of the Empire, doing their job by hunting down the Empire's enemies.

Which happened to be them.

Anakin cursed under his breath and took the last several steps of their current staircase three at a time.

They gathered at the top of the stairs for a moment to regroup. All four of them looked worse of wear. Their clothes were singed where blaster bolts had just missed them, and there were series of tears in the clothes and bleeding cuts where the bolts had grazed them. Thankfully, none of them had suffered any worse wounds than that. Jaina has a large bruised on the side of her face from throwing herself down to avoid being hit and having her cheek come in hard contact with the stone floor.

"Now what?" she panted, her fingers curling around her lightsaber handle.

Anakin looked around. "I remember this corridor," he said. "Breha's quarters should be just along here – and then I think there's a staircase to the next floor that we can take."

Jaina nodded. "Right. Let's go."

They took off again, running along the corridor. Sure enough, Anakin's guess had been correct: after passing the doors that led to Breha's quarters (now blasted open, despite the efforts of Jaina and Anakin earlier in the day), they rounded a corner and found a staircase leading up. It was a wide staircase with many steps, built out of the white stone the Alderaanian architects loved so much. Anakin wasted no time in starting to clamber up the steps.

"Anakin—!"

Jaina called out just in time. Anakin threw himself to one side as a blaster bolt hit the step where he had been standing moments before and exploded in an array of sparks. Getting to his feet, Anakin backed down the stairs – a rather difficult thing to do, particularly while staring down dozens of blasters.

"Back!" he yelled, closing his eyes and turning his head away as a blaster bolt deflected off of the upper part of his blade and showered sparks into his face. He reopened his eyes and saw Obi-Wan, Kyp and Jaina retreated back around the corridor. Glancing over his shoulder as he ran back down the stairs, his lightsaber weaving a net of blue light around him, deflecting bolts, Anakin saw the clones making a slow progression down the stairs, their fire steady and unyielding.

He cursed and disappeared around the corner.

"Where do we go?" Jaina gasped, stumbling down the corridor.

Anakin's eyes caught sight of the open doors of Breha's apartment. He glanced at her. "There," he said.

"What?"

"We can stall them."

Jaina shook her head. "That won't work, Anakin," she said. "That was a one time thing."

"Oh yeah?" Anakin asked, raising his eyebrows. "Try me."

Jaina gritted her teeth. "Now's not the time for competitions!" she snapped.

"Run!" Obi-Wan shouted, pushing Anakin out of the way of a blaster bolt.

They pelted back down the corridor, back towards the stair case. Kyp, who was in the lead, skidded to a halt at the stairs, and swung out his arm to prevent Jaina from sailing past him. They came to a halt and turned again – clones were coming up the stairs. Several loud curses were uttered, and the Jedi ran back down the hall.

With no other options left, swung into Breha's apartment. The doors had been blasted open, but Anakin knew that there must be some way of reversing it. Clone technology was crude at best; he was an expert mechanic. He was confident enough to find a way to jam the door again to give them enough time to find some way out, even if they had to scale the wall. After all, what had Bail said?

_Directly above Breha's quarters. _

He grinned as an idea began to form.

They had a way out.

"Keep me covered!" he shouted as he deactivated his lightsaber and skidded to a stop in front of the hole in the wall where he and Jaina had first jammed the door. Obi-Wan sighed and came to stand next to him, keeping an eye out for approaching clones. A moment later, Jaina and Kyp joined him, their lightsabers casting a strange , flickering glow of amalgamated red-violet on the walls. It was a rather eerie shade.

"What are you doing?" Jaina hissed, trying to keep one eye on the corridor and the other on Anakin's progress with the wiring. It didn't work very well and soon she was more concentrated on what his flickering fingers than on keeping him covered.

The clones – one troop from either set of stairs – continued to march towards them, growing closer by the second.

"Hurry, Anakin," Obi-Wan said.

"Just – give – me – a – second!" Anakin hissed, frustrated, as he pulled one wire out completely and left it hanging loose. He wasn't even quite sure what he was doing, he let his hands guide themselves, reattaching the wires in ways that he normally wouldn't have dared for fear of electrocution. Suddenly, Anakin had another idea. He paused.

"Jaina," he said, "go to one side of the door and use the heat from your lightsabers to melt the durasteel."

"What?" Jaina asked, frowning. "But that will –"

"When the doors spring closed, they'll be fused together," Anakin explained in a hurry as he tried to locate the right wire to close the doors. He and Jaina had really messed things up when they had been working here before.

"Oh," Jaina said. She exchanged a look with Kyp and did as she was told. As Anakin continued to work, trying different wires, the metal on her chosen door grew hot and began to glow – and then it began to melt.

"Move!" Anakin shouted suddenly, pressing the tip of one wire to another.

Jaina sprang back just as the doors sprang closed, smashing into each other with a satisfying _thud._ Then there was a hissing noise as it fused with the side of the other door. Jaina glanced at him, her face breaking into a grin.

"Brilliant," she said.

"I know," he replied, grinning too.

_Bang!_

He had fused the doors just in time. The clones were trying to break in.

"Now what?" Kyp asked. "It's a good idea, Anakin, but we really are kind of stuck in here now." Worn out and exhausted, bearing marks from the constant battle, he did not look happy at all. For some reason, at that moment Kyp looked older to Anakin than he ever had before. For the first time since meeting him, Anakin contemplated the fact this Jedi from the future was actually quite a bit older – and more experienced – than he was.

When viewed in that light, everything that Kyp had ever told him made a lot more sense.

But that didn't change the fact that he was wrong this time.

"We're not trapped," Anakin said. "I have a plan." He paused, listening to the sounds of the clones trying to get in. He pursed his lips. "Well… we are if we can't find the type of blasters that we need."

Jaina raised an eyebrow. "And what are those?"

"The kind that has cables in them that you can shoot," Anakin said, walking past her towards Breha's desk. It was locked, but locks never did mean much to a lightsaber. After a quick series of cuts, he reached into the first drawer and began looking around.

"You think Breha's going to keep that _specific _kind of blaster in here?" Jaina asked. There was a slight scoffing tone to her voice.

Anakin paused and looked up at her. "No," he replied, "I'm _hoping_ that she keeps that kind of specific blaster in here. Because if she doesn't, then we're all dead."

"Anakin, what are you thinking of?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I'm thinking that if the Naboo Royal Guard or whatever you call them," Anakin answered as he rummaged around in the desk, "can have that kind of blaster on them, then we're home free." He straightened and looked back at Obi-Wan. "I'm sure you have as much reason as I do to remember the Battle of Naboo, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan's expression became tense. "Yes."

"Well," Anakin continued, turning back to the desk, "Padmé told me about how she and her guards got inside the upper level of the palace without the enemy knowing. They had cables inside their blasters. They got outside on the window ledge, shot the cables upwards, and skipped a whole floor of fighting by going on the outside of the palace." He grinned as he looked back at Obi-Wan again. "I've seen the window ledges here. They're just big enough. And it's quite lucky for us that the landing platform with the ship on it just happens to be right up there." He pointed at the ceiling with a finger. "Oh, look! Secret compartment." Anakin opened it and took out a blaster. He examined it and then grinned as he looked up at his companions. He tossed the blaster to Obi-Wan, who caught it with one hand.

"Cable?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Cable," Anakin confirmed. He reached in and took out three more blasters, tossing two of them to Kyp and Jaina. "We have to remember to thank the Royal Alderaanian armory next time we're here. Come on." He shut the drawer and led the way to the window.

Anakin looked out. They were quite high up; the lake they had looked out at on the lower levels from the windows seemed even tinier from this view. Directly below the window was the garden they had come out in when they had escaped from Breha's apartments the first time around. Still, this was not the time to be afraid of heights and he activated his lightsaber, preparing to slice through the transparisteel.

"Anakin," Kyp called.

"What?"

"I've found something better." Kyp was grinning.

Anakin rushed over to where the Jedi was standing. Hidden behind some light blue drapes was a door that led out to a wide balcony. Anakin couldn't help but grin. A balcony was even better than a window ledge. He glanced at Obi-Wan and tilted his head in the direction of the door. Obi-Wan and Jaina rushed over, skidding through the door before Anakin and Kyp filed through it as well, closing it behind them.

They paced out backwards on the balcony, looking up at the right thing they could attach their cables to.

"There!" Jaina said, pointing. "That will have to do."

Directly above them was a wide window ledge. But to land on it, they would have to shoot their cables past it and have them hook onto something else. Jaina was pointing at the little bit of the roof that extended outwards above the window ledge. Apparently, the window they were going to land beside was on the final floor of the palace.

"And there's the landing platform," Obi-Wan said, pointing slightly to the left of the window.

"What's that?" Kyp asked suddenly.

They spun to see what he was looking at. Anakin's expression fell as he realized what it was.

The _Tantive IV_ was shooting up towards the atmosphere, pursued by two large ships that had to belong to the Empire. His heart leapt into his throat.

_Padmé. _

_Luke and Leia. _

They were onboard the ship and now they were leaving without him. And with no connection to Bail or anyone onboard, how would they know where to find the ship again?

Anakin's fingers curled into fists.

"They must have been forced to leave," Obi-Wan murmured.

Anakin paused. "Yeah," he said, his voice dull. "Of course."

"We can worry about it later," Kyp said. "We have to get out of here first."

The four Jedi exchanged looks.

"Right, then," Jaina said, clicking her lightsaber back on to her belt and gripping her blaster with both her hands. "Let's do this before the clones get up there."

Simultaneously, the Jedi pointed their blasters at the underside of the roof and fired. Four cables shot up into the air and with a little help from the Force, reached the intended target and held fast. Anakin glanced at his companions once before they pressed the correct button on their blasters and the cable retracted, pulling them up into the air.

They slid past the windows of Breha's apartment and crested at the window ledge of the hall above her rooms. They let the cables pull them a little above the window ledge before stopping it and letting the cable detach. They settled easily on the window ledge and retracted the cables all the way back into their blasters.

Anakin peered through the window and groaned.

There were clones in the hallway – enough to cause trouble, but not enough to be extremely dangerous. Luckily, they weren't looking in the direction of the window, but it wouldn't be long before one of them turned and saw four black, Jedi-shaped figures standing on the other side of the transparisteel. Pursing his lips, Anakin glanced at the landing platform where the ship was located. He cursed – it was too far to jump, even with a Force-enhanced one.

There went one plan. They would have to improvise.

"Surprise or stealth?" Anakin asked, directing his question at Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan glanced down at his blaster and then at his lightsaber. "Considering the tools we have and what we have to work with," he said, his eyes flickering at the large window they were standing in front of, "and the small amount of space to work on," he added, "I'd say 'Surprise.'"

"Me, too."

They stowed their blasters away and ignited their lightsabers simultaneously before smashing the window. The transparisteel shattered and fell to the floor, causing a loud noise to erupt on their side of the hall. The clones turned just in time to see four Jedi jump in through the broken window, their lightsabers at the ready.

The hall turned into a blur of red blaster fire and whirling lightsabers. Colours danced on the white stone walls from the weapons of both sides. When Anakin landed on the floor, he took off at such a pace that he slide on the broken shards of transparisteel and went skidding along the floor, almost losing his balance. He arrived in front of two clones and immediately sliced their blasters in half and slashed his blade across their chests.

Jaina flew by him, her lithe body appearing to dance as her saber protected her from a stream of blaster bolts. It created a net of violet light around her, she was moving it so quickly. Any clone that got to close to the violet net as she danced in and out of reach quickly met his death.

Obi-Wan and Kyp had become a team on the other side of the hall, one attacking while the other defended. Both Jedi were visibly tired, and their teamwork nearly tripled the results of their efforts as only one of them had to concentrate on one task.

Soon enough, they had managed to disperse of all the clones in the hall, though every one of them was tired. Panting for breath, Jaina was leaning against the side of the wall, clutching at it for support. Anakin's legs felt like they were about to give out on him as he staggered over to her.

"You okay?" he asked.

There was a cut under her eye from where she had received a gloved punch from one of the clones. It was bleeding profusely, but didn't look deep.

Jaina shrugged and nodded. "I'll live," she said.

Obi-Wan and Kyp managed to make their way over to Anakin and Jaina.

"Is everyone fine?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Jaina, you're bleeding," Kyp said, his voice concerned.

Jaina's eyes flashed. "I _know_ that, Durron," she hissed. She tried to wipe away the blood with the back of her hand, but only managed to smear it across her cheek. "Let's get the hell out of here. Those clones probably called for reinforcements; there'll be more up here before long and I don't think I have enough energy for one more fight."

"This way, then," Anakin said, heading off towards an archway that led to the next room over.

The room was guarded by a heavy door to which they did not have the access codes. Grunting in frustration, Anakin stabbed his lightsaber through the door, trying to carve a way in. A moment later, his companions did the same. It was slow work as the door was thick and heavy, but soon they had cut out a circle large enough to step through. Anakin gave a backwards glance at the entrance to the hall as he shooed his friends through the hole. Jaina was right – it was only a matter of time, perhaps only a matter of _minutes_, before reinforcements arrived.

Once through, they found that the room was more like a cloister than anything else. There was not much room to maneuver, but they hurried over to the ship. They had finally made it to their escape route.

_Bang!_

Anakin yelled out in pain as he felt the blaster bolt graze his leg. He spun around, activating his lightsaber and drawing his blaster at the same time, heading back towards the hole in the door.

The clones had arrived – and they were going to complicate matters.

"_Anakin!"_ Jaina shouted.

"Get onboard!" he yelled back, firing his blaster. He was too tired to approach the clones and attack them head-on. He stayed in the shadows, jumping in and out of range, shooting well-aimed blasts through the hole in the door at the clones.

"_ANAKIN!"_

"All right!" Anakin shouted. He fired one more shot, which caught the closest clone trooper in the chest, and then rushed towards the ship. The engines roared to life as he ran up the ramp and hit the close button, deactivating his lightsaber. A bolt hit the side of the ship, causing it to shudder.

"Are the shields up?" Anakin yelled as he ran towards the cockpit.

Jaina was sitting in the pilot's seat. She glared at him. "Of course," she snapped.

Anakin stared down at her. "Move."

"No."

"Move!"

"I'm quite capable of flying, thank you." She gave him a dark look.

Anakin threw his hands up in the air and groaned.

"Sit down, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him, "and strap yourself in. This is no time to be arguing about who flies what."

Jaina gave him a superior look. Anakin grunted and took his seat.

Blaster bolts flew by them as Jaina pulled on the yoke and urged the ship off the landing platform and into the air. No sooner had she done that then she was faced with five fighters that Anakin recognized as the ones the clones used. He swore under his breath. Jaina had no idea what she was getting herself into.

A voice crackled across the comm system.

"Jedi, surrender now or you will be shot down."

Jaina gave a very eloquent response. The voice was unperturbed.

"If you do not surrender now, your craft will be destroyed. You are enemies of the Empire. This is your final warning."

Jaina did not answer, but switched off the comm system. She pulled the ship upwards, heading higher than the fighters. They followed her.

"Jaina—" Anakin began but stopped speaking as he was taken by surprise when she suddenly let the ship drop.

The ship went shooting downwards, spiraling past the fighters, whose shots collided with each other and hit one of their own. Jaina smiled grimly as she took control of the ship again and sped forwards. Behind them, the fighters followed.

"Careful," Anakin warned.

Jaina suddenly jerked the ship on its side and two spiraling shots fired at them from two different ships collided together. She double-backed, shooting by under their pursuers as she headed back towards the palace. Slanting the ship, she just missed the roof of the palace as she shot upwards towards the atmosphere.

It didn't take long for the fighters to realize where they had gone and soon they were hot on the tail.

The Alderaanian ship and the clone fighters zoomed through the atmosphere, Jaina diving dangerously whenever they needed to avoid a blast. None of them were sure how good the shields were. The problem was that they were in a ship that was much less versatile that the one-man fighters the clones were using. There were certain tactics that you would be very foolhardy to employ in a ship like the one they were in.

Yet Jaina was using them anyways.

_Anything to evade capture,_ Anakin thought. _Even if it does mean blowing us up._

Still, the girl had a remarkable talent that Anakin would never have guessed she would have had. She seemed to know exactly how far she could push the ship, exactly when she needed to dive to avoid being hit. There were no guns built into this ship, which was problematic for them. Anakin doubted that Breha and Bail would have ever dreamed that their private ship would ever have been used for an escape attempt. This slight problem left Jaina with some interesting ways of coping with their pursuers. Unable to attack them herself, she was left to employ an intricate dance to trick the fighters into firing at them at the same time at a precise spot. She would then either turn the ship on one side, drop down, or fly upwards so the shot passed right by them and hit one of the enemy.

She was utilizing friendly fire to kill off their pursuers.

_She's brilliant,_ Anakin thought.

There were only two fighters left chasing them down when they shot out into the vacuum of space. As Alderaan slowly shrunk behind them, Jaina wiped sweat off her brow as she turned to the nav chart and began readying the ship for hyperspace. A blast caught the side of the ship, rattling it. Jaina swore loudly as a siren went off, accompanied by a blinking light on the control panel.

"What the hell is that?" she shouted, though Anakin had a feeling she probably knew.

"Jaina, how much longer?" Kyp yelled.

"Just a few more seconds—!"

"We're not going to have a few more seconds, they're closing in on us!" he shouted back.

"Shut up!" Jaina snapped. "That's all we've got, or else we're not jumping to hyperspace, just hold on –" Her voice was cut off as she gasped as she was thrown back into her seat when the ship suddenly leapt into hyperspace, stars becoming streaks in the viewport. A moment later, the siren switched itself off though the light began to blink.

Jaina passed a hand over her face and began to laugh uncontrollably. Anakin exchanged looks with Obi-Wan and Kyp before they all broke out in laughter, grinning at each other, delighted at their successful escape.


	38. Tales of the Dark

**CHAPTER XXXVIII**

**Tales of the Dark**

Jaina was fighting to control her helpless gales of laughter.

"That was the craziest flying I've had to do in years," she said, her eyes squeezed shut. She opened them and looked at her companions. "Still," she continued, straightening in her seat. "We're safe for the moment. I'm not sure if they'll be able to follow us or not, but I don't think we're going to be able to do another hyperspace jump; this ship got fried and we don't even have an R2 unit to fix the damage."

"Jaina," Kyp asked, his tone serious, "where did you set the coordinates?"

Jaina's expression became grim. "No place where Palpatine will think to look for us," she said. "No Yavin IV or Endor or any of the planets that had much to do with my parents."

"Myrkr?" Kyp asked after a pause.

Jaina froze. "Do you really think I'd put us within _reach_ of ysalamiri?" she asked. "Don't be an idiot."

"I was just checking," he shot back. "Can't be quite sure."

"You could have just asked."

"I did."

"Shut up." Jaina sighed. "It's Dagobah," she said finally. "It was the remotest thing that I could think of that didn't have a major battle on it during the Rebellion years, or afterwards."

Kyp groaned. "Jaina, that's where Yoda exiled himself! It's where Luke went to train! Isn't it a bit… _obvious?"_

Jaina's eyes went flat. "No," she said. "There's the cave. Any sane person would want to stay away from that cave, and if Palpatine does know about it, he'd know that that's the _last_ place any of us would want to go near."

Anakin was looking from one to the other, confused. The conversation made no sense to him, but two things were of intense interest to him: the fact that Yoda had apparently exiled himself on this planet they were headed towards, and that Luke – who had to be none other than his son – had trained here.

This presumably all took place in the future – if the future was right.

"What's this?" Anakin asked.

Jaina stopped talking. "Nothing," she said shortly.

Anakin scowled at her. "What was that about my son?"

Jaina sighed and rolled her eyes. She looked annoyed. "Okay, listen," she said. "It's not very complicated. In the future where we come from, before I was born your son was the only Jedi in existence."

"Wait," Anakin said, holding up a hand. "You mean you _knew_ about the clone attack? About the Jedi Purge?"

Jaina glanced at Kyp. She remained silent.

"We knew about the Jedi Purge," he said grimly. "We just didn't know how it happened. The Empire destroyed many historical records of this time period. Before coming here, our knowledge was… limited."

Anakin's fingers curled into fists. "Why the hell didn't you tell us?!" he shouted. "We could have done something!"

"And you would have believed us?" Jaina snapped. "Think about it for a second, Anakin! Would you?"

He paused, then scowled. "I don't know."

She sighed and shook her head. "It doesn't matter anyways. We had no idea when the Purge was going to take place or how it was going to be done. On that note, we always thought that Darth Vader had more to do with the execution of the Purge than anything else—" She cut herself off, clamping her mouth shut.

"Ha!" Anakin exclaimed. "There it is! You've mentioned him again. Darth Vader. Who the hell is he? Some kind of Sith Lord?" He laughed.

Obi-Wan glanced at him. "Anakin," he said, his tone grim, "I don't think this is a topic you should take lightly."

Anakin glared at him. "And why not?"

Jaina took a deep breath. "Because Darth Vader's you," she said.

Any trace of a smile still left on his face dissipated. Anakin stared at her, uncertain of how to react. Darth Vader was clearly a Sith Lord name. He heard it and it sent chills down his spine. The name was associated with the Dark side of the Force.

And apparently this Vader was _him?_

"What did you say?"

Jaina brushed her hair out of her eyes. Beneath the bruises and scratches, her face was pale and deadly serious. There was no laughter in her expression.

"You're why we're here, Anakin," she said. "We're not just time travellers. We came here to save you. If we'd done nothing, then you wouldn't be Anakin Skywalker right now. You'd be a Sith Lord named Darth Vader. And you…" She paused and took a deep breath. "And you'd be half-man, half-machine, kept alive by a suit and a mask created by your Master so you could instill fear into the people of the Galaxy. Your wife would be dead and your son and daughter separated, one taken to Tatooine to live with Owen and Beru Lars, and the other to Alderaan to be raised by Bail and Breha."

Anakin swallowed hard. This was rattling him – it seemed surreal. None of it could be true. Padmé, dead? The twins separated? And, worst of all – he had sided with Palpatine?

"You mean… you mean I'm supposed to be a _Sith Lord?"_

Jaina exchanged looks with Kyp. "Yes—"

"But that's ridiculous!"

"—and no," she finished. Her eyes went flat for a moment. "I'm not sure what is supposed to be right or wrong. You're the Chosen One, destined to bring balance to the Force. In our past, you supposedly did so by turning to the dark and serving Palpatine for twenty years before your son brought you back to the light. Your love for your family won out in the end, or so Luke always said." Her eyes tightened. There was caution in her voice, as if she was afraid of saying something. She swallowed before continuing. "You supposedly killed Palpatine the day you returned to the light, sacrificing your own life for that of your son. But it didn't work, and we didn't know it until recently." She stopped speaking.

"Your son is a Jedi Master, Anakin," Kyp said quietly. "He began the New Order. He said once that he called himself the last of the old, but he was really the first of the new. He created a new generation of Jedi Knights. He taught me everything I know – almost." There was a slight twist to his lips as he said that.

Anakin scowled at him. "What do you mean by that?"

Kyp laughed shortly. It was a grim laugh. "I was possessed by an ancient Sith Lord once," he said. "A long time ago, when I first came to Luke's Academy."

Anakin stared at him. "So you weren't kidding when you said you knew about the Dark side…"

Kyp shook his head. "No."

"But what went wrong?" Anakin asked, backtracking. "You said that everyone thought that I – that Vader – turned back to the light and restored balance. What went wrong?"

"You didn't kill Palpatine." Jaina's voice was hard and cold. Her fingers were clenched; she stared straight ahead, not looking at anyone. "You didn't kill him, though everyone thought you did. You threw him down an elevator shaft in a giant space station before the Rebel Alliance blew it up. No one ever could have thought that he could have survived that, but no – he can time travel. He can disappear there and reappear here. How he does it, no one can really be sure. Kyp and I don't even understand it, but he escaped that way – only to reappear thirty years later on Mustafar."

Anakin could sense that something was wrong. Jaina's face had become blank, her voice wooden. He was certain she was recounting a story that she would very much like to forget.

But she continued on anyways.

"Luke thought there was something wrong on Mustafar," she said. "There had already been some investigations there, and none of them returned. So we went. Luke and Leia… Leia's husband…" She paused. "Mara, who is Luke's wife, their friend Corran Horn, Kyp, my brother Jacen and myself. We found Palpatine there. We learned the truth from him. We fought him, all of us and he… he killed my brother." She was trembling now.

"Jaina, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to –"

"No!" She had shouted the word. She glanced at him; tears were shining in her eyes, but she refused to wipe them away. "What's done is done. Jacen's dead, and I'm doing all I can to reverse that."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Jaina smiled shortly and shook her head as she tried to wipe the tears out of her eyes. "Anakin," she said, "I'm in the past. Palpatine hasn't attacked my brother yet. As far as I'm concerned, he's not dead – yet. When I return to the future – if I ever get there – he'll be alive and well."

Anakin stared at her. "So, you came to the past to basically get _revenge_?" he exclaimed.

Jaina barked a bitter laugh. "No!" She locked eyes with him. "We came here to save you," she said.

"Save me?" This was getting more ridiculous by the minute.

Jaina nodded. "Save you from becoming Darth Vader. You were supposed to be the tool by which Palpatine would have complete and total control over Force users. He used Darth Vader to hunt down the Jedi – or so I was told. With the clone attack, I'm not sure how much my past's version of you had to do, but I'm sure you were very useful in tracking down the Jedi."

Anakin sat quietly. He was becoming unnerved by this revelation – what Jaina was saying was ringing true. Hadn't Palpatine tried to convince him to join him? Palpatine was a Sith Lord – a very powerful Sith Lord. What would have happened if he had joined him?

Perhaps Jaina knew.

But something didn't make sense.

"What I don't get," Anakin said, "is that _you_ came here to save _me,_ but you barely did a thing at all. I mean, you went gallivanting off to Shanthrai with Obi-Wan, Jaina! Sure, Kyp and I had a few chats now and then, but I wasn't about to trust him. So – what went different?"

Jaina looked lost. She shook her head. "We may never know," she said. "My knowledge of this time period is very limited. I can't say what we did, if we did anything at all. Time's a very flexible thing, Anakin. It's never set in stone."

Anakin glanced at her. "So you don't think I'm going to become a monster? Half-man, half-machine?"

Jaina laughed hollowly.

"No."

"Good."

"Are you happier now?" Jaina asked. "Now that I've spoiled you on the future that doesn't exist anymore?"

Anakin frowned. "What do you mean it doesn't exist?"

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Well, evidently what happened in _my_ past isn't happening right now, is it? The entire course of the future has been changed." She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. "That's what we were sent here to do. Stop Palpatine here by stopping you from turning to the Dark side. In our present, he was unstoppable without you. You were the only person who could defeat him, and you couldn't very well do that if you were dead."

Anakin stared at her. He wasn't sure what to think. It sounded like a story, like a fairytale. Something that was fun to hear about, but didn't have an inkling of truth.

Yet he knew Jaina was being dead serious.

Anakin felt unsettled. He decided that he didn't want to know anything more about the future. As Jaina seemed to be putting it, the fate of the entire future – and not just the immediate one – was resting on his shoulders. Billions – trillions – of lives depended on him to do one deed.

Kill Palpatine.

The worst part was, he wasn't sure if he could do it. A little part of him protested against the thought. Palpatine, for all his faults, was a human being. Sith Lord though he was, he had been Anakin's friend and protector for many years, ever since he had arrived on Coruscant when he was nine years old. Though Anakin had seen Palpatine's power, had witnessed the destruction that power could do, had fought it, even _run_ from it, some part of him still said that he couldn't – and shouldn't kill Palpatine. There had to be some other way of dealing justice for the man's crimes.

There had to be something other than murder.

"Anakin?" Jaina's voice said, seemingly from very far away.

"Just – shut up!" Anakin unhooked his crash webbing and stood up. He stared down at the petite, brown haired Jedi from the future, the one who had so simply laid out his possible future in front of him and calmly said what he could have become. Suddenly, she looked completely hateable. _She_ had come here to choose his life for him. _She_ had come here and was purposefully messing up time to control his fate.

At that precise moment, Anakin could have cared less if he never saw her face again.

"I don't want to hear any more from you," he hissed. "I've had enough."

He turned and strode away, his boots stomping so hard on the floor it shook the walls. He turned his back on his companions and found his way to one of the cabins. He palmed open the door and shut it, wishing – juvenilely – for once that there were more doors that could be opened by hand so they could be slammed shut. It had been years since Anakin had slammed a door shut.

He had so many questions, and all of them were answerable by Jaina and Kyp. Why had Yoda imposed a self-exile upon himself? Why had his son trained on _Dagobah,_ of all places? What had become of Obi-Wan? Surely he had not become a Sith Lord, but Anakin could not imagine him being killed by him – Vader.

Anakin grunted. It was all too strange for him. Too unreal. He found himself wanting to know more, but he was repulsed by what he might find.

Sitting down on the bed, he kicked off his boots and lay down. He needed a rest. However, while he tried to close his eyes, he found that his mind was far from easy. He was continually aware that Padmé was not lying beside him as she had in their cabin onboard the _Tantive IV._ Luke and Leia were not there in their crib. The name _Vader_ kept whirling around his head and every time he closed his eyes, he saw a vision of a tall man in a dark suit and a fearsome mask.

Anakin shuddered.

He hated the future.

* * *

The atmosphere onboard the _Tantive IV_ was decidedly grim, Padmé decided. The weight of Bail's decision had affected the entire crew and everyone else onboard. The absence of the four Jedi was felt by everyone, and there were some who went about the entire business as if the Jedi had died back on Alderaan.

Padmé would have none of that. She knew Anakin. She knew Obi-Wan. And she could also dare to say she knew Kyp and Jaina. They would not give in so easily to the clones. They would either escape, or go down fighting. In her heart, Padmé knew that Anakin was still alive. And she had a feeling that the twins would know if Jaina had died and they would let her know – one way or another.

Jaina. The information she had uncovered – quite by accident – still unsettled her. Padmé's logical side demanded that she ask Jaina herself about her lineage, as it needed an explanation, but her heart knew that there was no arguing with the facts. Jaina was her granddaughter.

Jaina was her granddaughter, and now she had to keep that secret. Padmé dreaded to think what would happen if the wrong people found out about that information – or, indeed, that Jaina was a time traveler. Did Palpatine know? Something within the small part of her logical side that believed that Jaina was her granddaughter said "yes." It made sense – Palpatine was behind the attack on the twins. When Jaina had sped off to find the twins when the _Tantive IV_ was under attack, she had been in extreme pain. Padmé had no doubt that that pain would have become fatal if Luke or Leia had been killed – she still wasn't sure which of her twins Jaina's parent was, but she was assuming Luke since Jaina had said that her mother was Alderaanian.

If the twins had been killed, Jaina would have gone with them. An easy way for Palpatine to get rid of a threat. And it was a double hit – killing the twins was also a sharp blow to Anakin. If their children ever died, Anakin would be destroyed.

Padmé glanced down. She was seated on a soft couch in a well-furnished room near Bail's state rooms, cradling both her children in her arms. They were sound asleep, resting peacefully. Padmé smiled slightly.

"Don't worry," she murmured, placing a kiss on both of their foreheads. "Your father will come home. He always comes home. There is nothing to fear."

"Tender mother, you are, Senator," a voice commented from the doorway.

Padmé looked up and smiled. "As a mother should be, Master Yoda," she said.

The Jedi Master was leaning heavily on his gimer stick as he approached her. The events at Alderaan had worn him out. Padmé had never seen him look frailer than he did now.

"Attempted to contact the ship which they took, Senator Organa has," Yoda informed her. "Unsuccessful, so far, he has been."

Padmé looked away. "Somehow I had already guessed that," she said quietly.

She felt Yoda briefly touch her hand. She looked back at him inquiringly.

"No fear, Senator," he said reassuringly. "Alive and well they are, I am certain. No fear for them, you should have. Be patient – find them, we will."

He turned to leave. Padmé watched his slow progress, a question burning in her thoughts. She started to call out, but then thought better of it and silenced her voice. She paused – Yoda might know the answer to her question. Who knew what lay in his fathoms of knowledge? He kept so much to himself it was impossible to know how much of the truth he really knew.

Padmé quickly made up her mind.

"Master Yoda," she called, "wait a moment, please."

He paused and turned back to her. "Question, have you, Senator?"

Padmé blinked. She swallowed hard, wondering how to word the question appropriately. "If you found out something about a… person you and a close friend knew," she said, "but that person always remained something of a mystery to both you and your friend, should you tell the friend what you know, even though the secret is one of the most important things about the other person?" She winced after hearing the words come out of her mouth. "Does that make sense?"

Yoda looked up at her, unblinking. "Know, Jaina Solo's origins, you do," he stated.

Padmé nodded. Should she be surprised that Yoda knew, too?

"I know she's my granddaughter," she said.

"Told you, did she?"

Padmé shook her head. "No. I figured it out… on my own."

Yoda sighed. "And ask me, you do, if you should tell Skywalker, hmm?"

Padmé nodded.

"Decide for yourself, you must," Yoda told her. "Keep your granddaughter's secret for a time, you may need to. Or, perhaps, not. From now on, uncertain, it is, for me to say. Always in motion, the future is. Set in stone, it is not. Your own decisions, let their course take, Senator."

With that, he moved away across the room and out the doorway, leaving Padmé to her contemplations. She sighed; this was such a huge secret she did not know if she could keep it. It was dreadfully important to Jaina, of course, but Anakin had a right to know.

Perhaps Jaina would tell him herself. But then another question came – would Anakin take as good or ill when he finally found out the truth of Jaina Solo?

Padmé attempted to continue her contemplations for another hour, but soon found that she kept returning to the same point: she just truly did not know what to about the subject of Jaina's secret. Finally giving up on it, she stood and returned to her room to place Luke and Leia in their crib before going to find Bail. Though she still remained somewhat cold in their conversations, she knew that she still could trust him. It was not his fault that he had been forced to leave Anakin and the others behind.

She found Bail in the meeting room they had used after the Coruscant affair. He was sitting in front of a screen, playing with the settings. Sheltay Retrac and several of his other aides and members of the _Tantive IV_ crew were also present. Padmé sat down beside him and caught his attention.

"Well?" she said.

"No luck," Bail replied, sighing. "I have the codes to access that ship anywhere in the Galaxy. Either it's so far out of range that our transmissions can't reach it, or something is wrong with the ship and it needs repairs." He rubbed his forehead. "Either way, it's not good news."

"Keep trying," Padmé said.

"We will," Bail assured her. "But not right now." He paused. "We've been trying to open communications with those still friendly to us. Other Senators who were on our side before the events at Coruscant – those who wish to make a stand against Palpatine."

Padmé nodded. "And?"

"We've had moderate success. We're trying to contact Mon Mothma right now."

Padmé was about to respond when Sheltay interrupted.

"Sir," she said. "We've been able to transmit on a secure line. They're receiving now."

Suddenly, the screen blurred into focus. Padmé shifted slightly as she saw her old friend, Mon Mothma, look back at her. The Senator of Chandrila looked tired. Her face was haggard and there were grey bags under her eyes. There was a tightness about her expression that Padmé had never seen before.

"Bail," she said with a smile. "Padmé. You're safe."

"Well, for now," Padmé said.

Mon Mothma's smile faded. "I've heard about what happened on Alderaan, Bail," she said. "I'm sorry."

His expression was like ice. "Thank you."

"There will be a very publicized trial," Mon Mothma added. "Palpatine is not going to let this one go, not when he can milk it for all its worth. He'll make the Galaxy fear the Empire and make those ignorant enough to fall under its sway fall in love with it. He knows how to play to the people, Bail. He's been doing it for years. Besides…" Her expression became dark. "It's one way of drawing you out by putting your wife on trial. He thinks there might be a chance of you trying to come and protect her."

Bail's expression had become a scowl. He said nothing.

"What of the Senate, Mon?" Padmé asked. "Is there any attempts to stand up to him?"

Mon Mothma shook her head sadly. "Our hands are tied," she said. "Any attempts to defy the Empire are crushed. Those of us who are against it are forced to wear a façade to protect our own lives. If he ever found out our true intentions and beliefs, he would have us killed off one by one. If you hear any news of me… agreeing to something you know I would stand against, do not believe it. It is only an act. There is much more that can be done underground, in secret, out of the Empire's eye than openly declaring war against him."

"A resistance of kinds, then," Padmé murmured. "Has anything been organized at all?"

Mon Mothma tilted her head. "In a way. I have my own people attempting to run an underground organization, but it will take a very long time before anything can be done in the open. The Empire's eyes are everywhere." She paused. "I cannot keep this line open for very long," she said, "but I must warn you now. Do not go near any civilized systems. A bounty has been put on both your heads – and quite a large one at that. You have been labeled 'disturbers of the peace' and 'public enemies' by the Empire. You're both wanted – at any cost."

Padmé swallowed hard. "And Anakin?" she asked.

Mon Mothma frowned. "Jedi Skywalker?"

Padmé nodded.

Mon Mothma's lips became a thin line. "All Jedi are wanted – dead."

"That does not surprise me," Bail said.

Mon Mothma shook her head. "No, it does not. Democracy is crashing around us. It exists in name only. The Jedi, the protectors of peace and freedom, were the first to go. Soon, I doubt the Senate will be anything more than a public figure head. All the power in the Empire is in Palpatine's hands. We have to obey him – we have no choice."

"We _will_ do something, Mon," Padmé said. "You can count on it."

"I can only hope." Mon Mothma smiled slightly. "Best of luck to you both."

"And to you."

Her image flickered once and then the transmission was cut. Padmé glanced at Bail.

"It is a dark time for the Galaxy, Padmé," Bail murmured. "To see everything come to this."

She clenched her fists. "Indeed."


	39. Fear in the Mind's Eye

**CHAPTER XXXIX**

**Fear in the Mind's Eye**

Anakin was not speaking to her. It went past the silent treatment – Anakin avoided her altogether. The ship was not very large, but somehow Anakin managed to find some other place to be in. Whenever she was in one room on the ship, he would get up and silently leave to another spot on the ship.

After a while, it became downright frustrating.

Jaina attempted to talk to him, but the fact remained that Anakin was utterly afraid of her. She could sense it. She could see it in the way he looked at her. He was unnerved by being in the same room as her.

She _knew_ she should not have told him. If Anakin decided that she was an enemy, then everything was lost right here and right now, en-route to Dagobah.

Jaina lost track of how many hours it took to travel from Alderaan to Dagobah. At times, it seemed like very little, at others, whole lifetimes seemed to have gone by. But lifetimes or not, one thing remained the same: they were in trouble before they even tried to exit hyperspace.

The tiny ship exited hyperspace with a bump and a rattle. Jaina had seized the pilot's chair and was determined to fly the thing, even though it seemed bent on a crash-landing. Anakin, incongruous with his character as he was normally so eager to fly, had chosen to ignore the fact that they were headed for a bumpy ride. Obi-Wan and Kyp, on the other hand, merely exchanged worried looks and held on.

The ship went in a downward spiral through the mists and fogs that made up Dagobah. Jaina attempted to steer it, but it soon became impossible to see where the trees were. The planet was densely vegetated. Vines lashed at the sides of the ship and swung angrily at the viewport as the ship invaded the jungle. With a thud and a crash that had enough force to throw Jaina against her crash-webbing, the ship finally came to a halt, flattening a dense patch of shrub-like plants. The engines moaned one more time and then cut out, leaving them in the dark with only the emergency power on.

Jaina sighed.

"Well, that was eventful," Obi-Wan commented drily from the co-pilot's seat.

Jaina snorted. "At least we made it here alive," she said, unstrapping herself and stretching her arms.

"How long does the emergency power last, Jaina?" Kyp asked, leaning forwards so he could talk to her properly.

She checked the screen on the control panel. "Uhh… we've got around twelve hours, maybe a little bit more or a little bit less. It's kind of hard to tell with this technology, I'm still not used to it yet."

"Because things are _so _much different in the future," Anakin growled. It was the first words he had said to her since storming off.

Jaina fixed him with a cold look. "You try traveling back fifty years and see how well you cope with the technology," she snapped.

Anakin looked like he wanted to retort, but decided against it.

"Stop it," Kyp ordered as he released his own crash-webbing. "There's no need to act like children. We've got a lot of work to do if we're going to fix this ship, there are no supplies out here except soggy wood and vines and I don't think that will help get us through hyperspace. Anakin," he turned towards their sullen companion, "you're the mechanic. Go check to see if you can find how much damage has been done and what needs to be fixed. Jaina and I will scout our immediate surroundings."

He glared at Anakin, who shot him a dark look, got to his feet and stormed out of the room. Jaina raised an eyebrow and glanced pointedly at Kyp. He shrugged.

"Obi-Wan," he said, "keep an eye on him. Something's up."

"That," Obi-Wan replied, "I can see – quite clearly." He sighed and rose to his feet, leaving to find Anakin.

That left Jaina and Kyp alone in the cockpit. Kyp stood up.

"Come on," he said. "We need to talk. Now."

Jaina sighed and followed him out of the cockpit, down the ramp and out into the murky landscape of Dagobah. Jaina sniffed – it was going to rain. She could smell it coming.

Kyp folded his arms and looked around, unimpressed. He turned to Jaina. "Dagobah is the best you can come up with?" he said.

Jaina rolled her eyes. She knew that tone of voice – sarcastically insulting. She had heard it often enough when she had apprenticed herself to him all those years ago. It annoyed her, and he knew it. When she had dissolved the apprenticeship, she had been infinitely glad that her chances of hearing that specific tone had been decreased tenfold.

She would never have guessed that one day those chances would be increased again.

"What else would you have me do?" she snapped. "Put us on Yavin? Take us to Tatooine? Even someplace we've never been that's even _slightly_ inhabited is going to be checked by Palpatine. He has all the resources he needs – he's not going to stop looking for us until we're found and considering the state Anakin's in, it's a _good_ thing we've landed here."

Kyp glared at her. "That's _precisely_ what I wanted to talk to you about," he said. "What the hell we're you thinking when you told him that he was Vader?"

She lifted her chin. "If you were so opposed to it, why did you play along?"

Kyp sighed, frustrated. "Jaina, you do realize what you've done, right?" he shouted. "He's become totally vulnerable! He's so terrified of what he could become in the future that he's completely useless! If he's scared of you, he'll be frightened to even _hear_ Palpatine's name, let alone fight him. Why didn't you tell me that you were going to pull that one on him and go and tell the bloody truth?"

Jaina gaped at him. "I thought we'd agreed that he needed to know," she bit out.

Kyp looked at her blankly. "Well –"

"Face it, Durron," she snarled, "you had no idea that this would happen and I didn't either. We both messed up and it's going to be up to _both of us_ to get him out of this mess."

There was a roll of thunder and then it began to rain. Kyp and Jaina stared at each other, the rain drenching both of them until their clothes were completely wet through. Neither of them moved, each of them expecting the other to say something.

Finally, Kyp closed the gap between them in two strides and seized her arm. Jaina had her back to the side of the ship; he roughly pushed her backwards until her back slammed into metal hull. He was breathing heavily and there seemed to be something different about him as she stared up at him. Something not quite safe. Water ran down his face and through his dark hair; his green eyes locked with hers and his grip on her arm tightened. She took a breath, suddenly realizing that her heart was racing. She raised her chin and stared at him, waiting for him to do or say something.

He leaned forwards, his face inches from hers. She wasn't sure if he had noticed that he was pinning her arm against the side of the ship.

"You did it," he whispered through gritted teeth. "You make him better. That's your job."

She could feel his breath on her face. She could do nothing but stare at him for a moment, the rain running into her eyes.

She blinked.

"You're hurting my arm," she said levelly.

Kyp froze. Suddenly, he let go and stepped back. "Jaina," he said rapidly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

Jaina brushed a lock of wet hair out of her face. "No," she said. "Don't apologize. I know what it is." She looked around, pursing her lips. She could feel that something was out of place as soon as they had landed. Perhaps it would have been better if they had never come at all.

The cave was close by.

The cave that was ruled by the Dark side of the Force.

"You can feel it, can't you," Jaina said, stepping forwards, still looking around, her eyes trying to peer through the vegetation. "The Dark side."

Kyp nodded. He came to stand next to her. "It's stronger here than I thought it was supposed to be," he said.

Jaina glanced at him. "I have a feeling that this is going to be difficult for Anakin."

Kyp didn't look at her. "You better go talk to him, then."

She nodded and turned to return to the ship. She paused for a moment before turning back, her boots sticking in the mud, and took his hand. Kyp turned and looked at her, confused. She smiled tightly.

"You don't have to be sorry," she said softly.

He looked at her questioningly, but she merely turned and walked back up the ramp into the ship.

Jaina did not do as she said she would. Anakin had opened up part of the wall in the cargo hold and was working mechanically as he tried to locate the source of their problem, but Jaina did not go to speak to him. Instead, she wandered back into the cockpit and stared out at the thick vegetation in front of the ship until the rain began to fall so thickly that it obscured the viewport in a watery opaqueness. Jaina sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing a hand across her face, leaning an elbow on the armrest of the pilot's chair.

Why was it that things _never_ went according to plan? Disaster seemed to follow her wherever she went. Every mission she had ever undertaken had always had something go wrong, no matter how many precautions she and her companions took. She knew the saying _nothing is ever easy_, but her life seemed to take it to the extremes.

She felt exhausted. Tensions had been running high ever since she and Obi-Wan had first landed on Shanthrai. It had been one thing after another – first it was the unidentified, psychotic Sith Lord; next it was the defeat of the Jedi and Palpatine's rise to power, in which she had feared for Kyp's safety and thought that Anakin had fallen to the Dark side; that was followed by Yoda's cryptic warning and the apprehension of Anakin finding out too much too soon; and finally, there was the entire business on Alderaan, which had turned out even worse than any of them could have expected.

Jaina felt as though she had not had the time to catch her breath and stop her heart from beating frantically. For months, she had been living on the edge.

And it was not going to lighten any time soon. They were in a darker place now than ever before. Fleeing from the Empire and unsure of Padmé and the twins' safety, they were trapped on Dagobah. They were utterly alone, utterly isolated from the rest of the Galaxy with the threat of being found by Palpatine's armies hanging over their heads while Anakin was in a darker place than ever before.

All the while, the Dark side was growing nearby, teasing the edges of their minds. Jaina could feel it, and she knew the other Jedi sensed it as well.

It wasn't any external force that was causing it.

It was the cave.

_You're absolutely brilliant, Jaina,_ she snapped at herself. _Absolutely brilliant. You choose the most isolated planet you can think of, yet manage to land right by a place that simply _reeks_ of the Dark side. Well kriffing done. _

Neither she nor Kyp knew the origins of the Dark side presence in the cave. All they knew was that Luke had once been sent there by Yoda and had confronted an illusion of Darth Vader. Jaina's own brother, Anakin, had once set foot there, too. Every Jedi knew of the cave; they had all heard tales about it. But Jaina had never once imagined that the place would be so steeped in the Dark side. She could feel it all around her, toying with her senses to distraction – and she knew that it was doing the same thing to her companions.

If there was ever a time when they did not need a distraction, now was it. Unfortunately, they were provided with the best distraction in the Galaxy. The dark power that saturated the near-by cave toyed with the edges of their minds, luring them away from the tasks at hand, twisting their thoughts and words, sometimes without even their knowledge. It was proof that Kyp was distracted by many different things when he had talked to her, because he had not even sensed the Dark side's subtle force playing with his mind until Jaina had pointed it out to him. Jaina rubbed her arm where he had grabbed her – one would think that Kyp, having been exposed to its power before, would be less vulnerable than the rest of them might, but no.

They had only made one hyperspace jump before the ship had given out. It was possible – just possible – that the Empire could trace them here. They would not be ready for another attack. Suffering as they were from the weeks of fighting and running and fleeing and being defeated again and again by Palpatine's armies, all of them were at risk.

Especially Anakin.

Jaina hated to admit it, but Kyp was right. She should not have told Anakin the truth. She had unintentionally opened him up to vulnerabilities, especially now that they were trapped somewhere so close to a source of the Dark side. She shivered.

It was one wrong turn after another. Could things become even worse?

Jaina tried to tell herself that they couldn't, but she knew better. There was always a more dire route than the one they were currently on.

It was not very optimistic at all. Any normal person would have given up by now; Jaina smiled bitterly as she remembered why she had the strength to continue fighting. It was who she was – she never gave up. For her brothers' sakes, for the Galaxy's sake, she would never give up.

Brushing her hair out of her eyes, she stood up and went to find Obi-Wan and Anakin in order to find out what exactly the problem with the ship was and how long it would take to fix it, given their resources.

Upon inspection, the damage to the ship was not as bad as the Jedi had originally thought. Anakin had located the problem and thankfully it had nothing to do with the hyperdrive, though he did say that parts of it would need to be replaced soon and that it was capable of doing only a few more jumps before it gave out. Intent on working alone, Anakin refused to tell her exactly what the problem was, though Jaina felt that this was more of a diversion to keep her away from him and to keep his mind off of his disturbing new knowledge by keeping his hands busy.

Tired of his attitude, Jaina had thrown her hands in the air and stalked out of the cargo hold in a temper, allowing Anakin to work in peace. It was only later that Obi-Wan told her that it would take Anakin at the very least four days to fix the ship.

_Four days,_ Jaina thought as she stood in the rain, clutching her cloak around her. She stared up at the sky and saw nothing but dark rain clouds. She hoped that there would be no thundershowers.

_Four miserable days until we can get off this piece of slimy rock. You've been bloody brilliant, Jaina. _

* * *

On the second day, Jaina decided to go through the small supply of non-perishable food Obi-Wan had found on the ship upon inspection. Hopefully they would manage to get off Dagobah before the need to ration the supplies arose, but she felt more comfortable knowing how much exactly they had.

If she was quite honest with herself, it was more of a reason to keep her hands busy and her mind off her whirling thoughts. The night before, she had had a dream about the cave. It had only been a short dream, and she did not remember much of it, but what she did remember, she recalled clearly. In her dream, she had fought her way through the vines and the mud and entered the cave – where she had disappeared into the black.

That was when she woke up, leaving her with a sense of disappointment and a desire, an inexplicable need to visit the cave.

Jaina gritted her teeth as she counted up packages of ration bars. The more she thought about it, the more her desire to visit the cave grew. She knew she should stay away – especially at a time like this – but she felt immensely curious about it. She could sense the Dark side whispering to her in the corners of her mind, calling out to her. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, but it took almost all of her will to keep herself from dropping what she was doing and going to find the cave.

She told herself she should not go near it.

But hadn't it been an integral part of Uncle Luke's training?

Jaina shuddered and pushed the thought aside.

"Eighty… four?" she asked herself aloud, staring down at the piles of ration bars, her brow furrowed. Somewhere, she had lost count. She could not remember counting past eighty.

"I think we'll be fine with eighty-four ration bars," a voice said. "I'm rather surprised at how well-stocked Bail and Breha kept this ship. There is still quite a lot of water left."

Jaina looked up and saw Obi-Wan staring down at her. His voice had an amused tone to it, but his eyes were grim, his expression tense.

To put it simply, he looked the way Jaina felt: on edge.

Jaina sighed and started packing the ration bars back into their container. She had had enough of them. "I think food is the least of our concerns right now," she muttered. She paused, pursing her lips. "How's Anakin?" she asked finally.

Obi-Wan seemed to have been expecting the question. "He's… dealing with it," he said slowly. "In his own way."

Jaina rolled her eyes and threw herself down on a chair. "He's not all right, then."

"Not really, no."

She groaned and rubbed one of her cheeks, frustrated. "I shouldn't have told him."

"What's done is done," Obi-Wan said placidly. "You can't change the past."

Jaina eyed him with a hard look.

Obi-Wan suddenly realized what he had said and laughed shortly, looking away. It was a grim sound. "Sorry," he said.

Jaina was silent. She wasn't sure what to say. She knew that Obi-Wan was probably going to attempt to coerce her into talking to Anakin, even though he knew full-well that Anakin was objecting to that idea. Jaina didn't like it much either, but she knew she would have to do it at some point. She did not want to admit to it, but she was slowly developing a block went it came to Anakin. She was afraid that anything she said would make matters worse, and that was simply something they could not afford.

They needed him back the way he had been.

"Do you know what's out there?" Obi-Wan said suddenly, jerking her out of her thoughts. "I can sense something – some ancient evil, getting closer and closer."

Jaina had not been expecting that question. She looked at him, her eyes widened with surprise. "I… know what it is," she said slowly, glancing away. She swallowed. "It's a cave seeped with the power of the Dark side."

"And what happens when you go there?" Obi-Wan's expression was grim.

Jaina met his eyes and did not look away this time.

"You meet your greatest fears." She paused. "Among other things."

"What other things?"

She ran her fingers through her hair and twisted them around a lock. "Only what you take with you," she answered.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow.

"That sounds like something Yoda would say."

Jaina laughed shortly. "That's because it _is_ something he said," she told him. Obi-Wan looked at her curiously, indicating for her to continue. She wet her lips. "The Force has always been versatile and unpredictable in its ways," she said. "Yoda sent Luke – Anakin's son – to the cave when he was training to become a Jedi. There, he saw a vision of himself fighting Darth Vader, but when he cut off the head of the dream Vader, it was revealed to be his own." She glanced away. "Kind of ironic that it was soon after that incident when Luke discovered that Vader was his father."

Obi-Wan sat down beside her and sighed. "Jaina," he said, "how do you know do much about Anakin's family?"

"I—" Her voice caught in her throat. Recovering quickly, Jaina shrugged. "Luke is the Grand Master," she said. "He was the first Jedi of the New Order. _Everyone_ knows everything about him."

"Even the more private details?" Obi-Wan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Our Jedi Order is like one big family," she said, trying to make herself sound normal. "It's smaller than this one and our losses during the war made us bind even closer together." She shrugged again. "It's only natural."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Indeed. Those devastated by war grow stronger together."

Jaina was silent for a moment. "This is a depressing topic," she said.

"I noticed that," a new voice said.

Both Jaina and Obi-Wan looked up as Kyp entered the room. He was wet, having been outside in the continuous downpour again. Wiping several strands of dark, wet hair out of his face, he looked down at Jaina, his green eyes serious.

"You told him about the cave, then?"

She nodded.

Kyp sighed. "Stay away from it, Jaina," he told her firmly.

Jaina opened her mouth to argue, but he held up a hand.

"Two more days and we're out of here," he said. "Just stay away from it. Something's not right."

Jaina glared icily at him.

_Who are you to tell me what to do? _she shot at him.

He didn't answer, merely looked steadily back at her, his eyes daring her to be the first to break contact. Jaina shrugged and stood up.

"I'll go talk to Anakin," she announced, sweeping past Kyp without a further look.

She had to get away. For some reason, every time the cave was mentioned, Jaina felt as though space was closing in on her. This time, getting away meant facing something entirely different: forcing Anakin out of his current mindset.

She found him working away, using whatever spare parts he could find to improvise something that would sustain the ship long enough for them to get to someplace where they could either fix it properly or contact the _Tantive IV_ and have their friends come to their aide. Jaina's fingers itched to pick up the hydrospanner and go help when she saw him working, but she forced herself not to invade on Anakin's space. Quietly, she sat down some distance away and watched, waiting for him to finally acknowledge her presence.

After several minutes, Jaina changed her mind and made their first move.

"I'm sorry, Anakin," she said, looking down at her hands as she twisted her fingers together. "Really, I am. I should have thought before I spoke. Seems to be something I'm pretty bad at."

He grunted.

"But you really have nothing to worry about," Jaina continued, glancing up at him but only seeing that he still had his back turned to her. "This time around, everything's different. I mean, I haven't even _done_ anything yet, not really. You did everything yourself. You turned away from Palpatine on your own accord. That means you're strong – strong enough to get through this. I have faith in you."

Anakin threw down the hydrospanner and wheeled around, his eyes flashing. "And I'm supposed to trust a girl who's supposedly from the future and who has been lying through her teeth and hiding the truth ever since I met her?"

Jaina's look hardened. "So, if you really want to believe that I'm _not_ from the future, then what's the problem? If I'm not from the future, then all this… this… _fear_ of yourself is ridiculous."

Anakin gritted his teeth and said nothing for a moment.

"_Agh_ – why do you always have to do this?" he shouted, spinning around and going back to his work, angrily picking up the hydrospanner and applying it.

"Do what?"

"Talk in… in kriffing _riddles!"_

Jaina blinked. "What?"

Anakin turned again, his face red with anger. He pointed an accusatory finger at her. "First, you say you trained with a Jedi outside this Order and came here to help us hunt down Darth Sidious. _Then_ I find out you're actually something of an impossible phenomena and are a time traveler. And then you go and outright say that I'm _supposed_ to be a monster and killing machine!"

"I never said you were supposed to be anything!"

"Then how do I know history won't repeat itself?!"

The hydrospanner was suddenly thrown with extreme force across the room. Jaina winced as it passed a little to close to her. She didn't take her eyes off Anakin as he paced around the cargo hold.

"In your time," he growled, "I was a monster. You said so yourself. That means that there's every possibility that _I'll_ become that monster. Don't pull that face, Jaina, I KNOW you know that it's possible!" His eyes flashed at her. He raised a clenched fist slowly and then paused, lowering it and continuing to pace. "The moment I fall to the Dark side, I become this monster, this _Vader._ I become the monster in your past."

"But we don't know that's going to happen!" Jaina interjected. "With all the evidence of everything's that happened – you _refusing_ Palpatine – everything points that you WON'T fall! Don't you see? The Vader who was in my past can't _exist_ anymore! The sequence of events that led up to his creation is extinct—"

"Because _you're_ here?" Anakin snapped.

"YES!" Jaina shouted. "That's exactly it! Because I'm here and I'm doing my best to mess with the original timeline—"

"Which you knew absolutely nothing about!" Anakin cut across her. "You said so yourself! Your knowledge of this time is _limited,_ or so you say. Who gave you the right to come here, eh? Why is it your job to play Creator with my life?" He stared at her, breathing heavily. His blue eyes suddenly went very dark. "WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT?!"

Jaina froze, staring up at him. She was unable to take her eyes off of him, unable to move, unable to speak. She could feel his towering anger burning a bright path through the Force, fueled by Anakin's frustrations and fears and feeding off of the power of the Dark side that brooded on the edges of their minds.

"No one," Jaina finally said, her voice no more than a whisper. "No one gave me the right. I chose to come of my own accord because I was the only one who could."

Anakin growled at her as he paced back and forth, his hands clenched into fists. He looked to angry to be capable of distinguishable speech.

"Anakin," Jaina said quickly, standing up, "I seriously did not think before I spoke. I am honestly sorry for saying what I did, for telling you of your past. But… but don't you think that… that maybe it's _good_ for you to know?"

"NO!"

He turned and stormed away from her, across the cargo hold. He sat down, holding his head in his hands. Jaina stood quietly, waiting for him to say something else, but he did not look up. Finally, after several moments of silence, he spoke.

"Go away."

"I can't."

"Just… go. Please."

"I can't. We need you, Anakin. I need you. The Galaxy needs you."

"Kriff the Galaxy!" The words were angry, but they did not sound like his heart was in them. Anakin finally looked up at her. His face had turned pale. "Is there anything else I should know about… about other me?" he asked.

Jaina swallowed hard. She pursed her lips and shook her head.

_I can't risk telling him anything more. Who knows how he'll take it? _

"I'm destined to be a monster, then," he said, his voice monotone. "I can feel it. The Dark side is everywhere. One day, I'll use it without thinking and that will be that. No more Anakin Skywalker – it'll be Darth Vader from then on."

"Don't," Jaina said. She stepped towards him. "Don't you _ever_ say that," she continued. "This Galaxy doesn't need Darth Vader. It needs a hero. It needs the Chosen One – and that, flyboy—" She cracked a smile, hoping some humour would offset the anger and tension in the Force – "is you."

Anakin caught her eye. "I didn't ask for this, you know," he said.

"I didn't ask to be the one to come back here and try to get the Galaxy into order," Jaina replied, folding her arms. "I'd rather have stayed in my present."

Anakin choked a laugh. "That sounds ridiculous."

Jaina rolled her eyes. "The whole affair sounds ridiculous," she said. Her expression hardened. "Unfortunately, it's also the most serious one the Galaxy will ever know. If we fail here, everything ends."

There was silence before Anakin spoke again.

"I… can't do this," he murmured.

"Yes, you can."

"I _can't."_ His voice became as hard as durasteel. He stood up and turned to face her. "Everything is piling up on my shoulders, but I can't help but feel that I won't be able to do it. Jaina – if I mess up, if I do something that causes disaster, then everything ends, like you said, and it's _my _fault. How could I live with myself if I did that, knowing that I'm the cause for the suffering of trillions of people across the Galaxy for thousands of centuries? He's practically immortal, Jaina. For all I know, he could be. He could be in power forever, and no one can stop him – except for me. Do you know how much pressure that puts on me?"

Jaina could only look at him, uncertain of what to say and worried that if she said one thing out of line, he would falter even further than he already had.

"It's not easy," she began slowly. "But I _know_ you'll pull through. After all, I came all this way – fifty odd years or so – to make sure you pull through. As long as I'm here, you're going to do it. You're going to kill him—"

"_Don't say that."_ The words were bitten out. There was a sudden furious look in Anakin's eyes. Jaina stepped back, uncertain of what would come next.

"Why?" The word was hardly more than a whisper.

"Because… because I'm not a murderer." As Jaina locked eyes with him, she thought she saw some kind of vulnerability behind the bright blue, some kind of fear. It was something she had never seen before. It was odd; she had never imagined Anakin as being someone who was terrified of a fight.

But then, it was not the fight itself he was scared of.

It was something quite worse.

Jaina swallowed hard. She was not sure where this left her; she wasn't even sure if she could deal with it. Anakin was afraid of killing Palpatine – not of fighting him, not of defeating him. Somehow, he saw himself lined up for a murder, where _he_ was the assassin. And though he knew that it was for the greater good, that it was to save the Galaxy from years of hardships and torture, something in him protested. Something in him said _"no." _

And there was nothing Jaina could do about it. No matter of talk could convince Anakin otherwise. His inner demons had to be conquered by him and him alone.

Jaina raised a hand and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She sat down beside him and covered his hand with hers. She felt the strange electric shock tingle her hand and she quickly removed it, but not before Anakin turned and stared at her.

She smiled tightly. "I have faith in you," she said.

Jaina stood up and quietly left the cargo hold. Behind her, Anakin sat, staring at the floor. At the doorway, she paused and turned, watching him quietly. He did not look at her, but played absentmindedly with the hydrospanner in his hands. After a moment, Jaina left and headed back to the front of the ship.

Everything had just gotten ten times more complicated.


	40. The Cave

**CHAPTER XL**

**The Cave**

In the days that followed, Anakin continued to work full-time on fixing the ship, but this time allowed Jaina to help. After her talk, he had not quite reverted to his former attitude, but he was not as quiet as he had been. Still moody, he tried to hide it from the others by putting on a smile whenever one of them came across him. Jaina knew better; he was still angry. He was still afraid of what the future might bring for him, he was still afraid of the Dark side. He was afraid of becoming Vader. And he was confused – confused as to what had to be done and where he stood. Jaina knew that he wanted to destroy Palpatine once and for all, but Anakin's conscience was conflicted on how that was to be done.

He did not want to be a murderer.

Unfortunately, when looked at in a certain light, that was exactly what they were demanding of him.

Jaina, however, was not Anakin and had other things on her mind. Her concern for him slowly became outweighed by the other things attracting her attention. Even when she kept her hands busy, she soon found that her mind was drifting away from the repairs and towards the cave.

It was calling to her – and she wanted to respond. Despite the cold feeling she felt in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought about the cave, despite the sense of fear and sickness that touched the corners of her mind whenever she focused on the cave, despite the very real danger in the lure of the Dark side that called out to her, she wanted to go. A deep desire to see the cave for herself and what it held for her was settling in her and she knew that she would not leave Dagobah without visiting it.

Finally, on the night of the fourth day, not too long after Anakin had said that they would need at least half another day before they could take off, Jaina palmed open the hatch on the ship and descended the ramp onto the swampy ground of Dagobah.

It had been raining for the past four days, the heavens draining themselves mercilessly on the Jedi below. Four days of straight rain had turned the ground into a muddy, mucky mess that clung to Jaina's boots and made it difficult to walk through. She clutched her cloak around her, tugging her hood over her head so as to keep her hair dry. She didn't want to get any wetter than need be.

It was very dark as the clouds obscured any celestial objects that might bring any nocturnal light. Jaina had brought a glowrod with her to light the way so she wouldn't have to use her lightsaber, though now that she was outside she realized that it was more of a precaution than anything else. She didn't need it. The Dark side was strong; it was pulling her towards the cave. She would have no trouble finding it. Taking a breath, she started off through the mud and into the night.

"Jaina!" a gruff voice called behind her.

Jaina spun around, mud flying in every direction. Her glowrod illuminated Kyp's dark face. He had left his hood down and looked as though he had put his cloak on in a hurry. There was a strange look on his face; Jaina couldn't decide if he looked angry or not.

"What?" she asked sharply.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?" he demanded, striding over to her. "I thought I told you not to go to the cave!"

Jaina scowled at him. "And what makes you think I'd do _anything_ you say?" she snapped.

He let out a frustrated sigh. "Jaina, please!"

"I can do what I want, Durron," she told him coldly. "If you ever thought for _one_ second that I'd obey every single little –"

"Jaina, stop." He stepped towards her. Now that he was closer, Jaina could see that he didn't look anywhere close to as angry as she thought he had appeared when further away. She frowned, confused.

"Why are you following me?"

"Why do you want to look at the cave?"

Jaina's nostrils flared. She turned to leave. "That's none of your concern."

"Jaina, I'm worried about you."

She paused and looked back. "Yeah?" she said. "Well, don't be."

"You've been acting strangely ever since we got here."

Jaina sniffed. "Yeah, well, a number of things can do that to a girl," she said flatly. "Like nearly being killed when her infant mother was in danger and running in circles around a palace in order to evade some psychotic Emperor's guards. Oh, and not to mention – without _any _help from her oh-so-helpful companion – having to look after her grandfather, who's gone and put himself into a complete mess."

Kyp clenched his jaw. "You don't have to put it like that," he told her coldly. "You're exaggerating."

"Not by much," she shot back. "Call it dramatic license, if you will, but it comes pretty close to the truth—"

"It's that blasted cave," he interrupted, his eyes flashing. "It's gotten to you, Jaina. I don't know what it was like for Luke when he came here, but there's something not right about it and you know it. You pointed it out to me. And now it's gone and done something to _you._"

"It hasn't done _anything,"_ Jaina growled. "Leave me alone. I'm going."

She turned and began to walk away. Kyp watched her for a moment and then strode after her, easily catching up. Before she could stop him, he reached out and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her back. Jaina glared at him, trying to think of the best insult to throw at him.

"Don't go. I've closed my mind to it. You should do the same."

Jaina clenched her teeth and pulled her wrist free. "You're not my Master," she snapped. "Not anymore. I make my own decisions."

"Decisions that will imperil you, and maybe the rest of us?" he shot back.

Jaina lifted her chin and shot him a dangerous look. "I really do hate you sometimes."

He merely stared back at her. "I know."

"Good." She turned and walked away, heading into the jungle. This time, Kyp did not follow.

It was wet work. She couldn't clearly see where she was putting her feet, and every now and then she would hear a _squish_ from her feet and the croak of some animal. Jaina barely noticed where she was going; she was relying on the pull of the Dark side to lead her to the cave. Her hands slipped over the vines as she used them for support. She drew her hands back sharply whenever they landed on something slimy and cold, either patches of slippery vines or occasional insects and reptiles. Suddenly, she slipped and one of her legs sunk down deep into the muck. She dropped her glowrod and it went out, leaving her in the dark.

Jaina took a deep breath, trying to peer through the darkness as her eyes adjusted, but she found that she couldn't see anything. Carefully, she wiggled her leg out of the mud and drew back. The pull of the Dark side had suddenly become muddled – she couldn't tell which way it was leading. Gritting her teeth, she sighed, frustrated. There was no way she could find the cave tonight. She had no chance but to head back.

Turning around, Jaina slowly made her way back across the muddy, wet jungle. Her hood had slipped off and her head was drenched by the rain. Water ran into her eyes and she squinted, trying to see her way through the dense vegetation. The words _bad idea_ ran through her mind.

Everything was so dark and she was suddenly so tired that Jaina was not quite sure what was real and what was not. Somehow, she must have found her way back to the ship as she was briefly aware of walking up something like a ramp, but for the most part, she traced her way back to the ship – or, at least, what she thought was the ship – in a trance. She was never quite sure what exactly was going on until she heard the voices.

"Jaina?"

"Jaina! Where are you?"

"Jaina!"

They were calling her name, over and over again. Jaina opened her eyes and found herself standing in a clearing, surrounded by white mist. She glanced down at her boots – she had sunk into the mud, it leveling an inch below her knees. She squinted, trying to see through the mist – she thought she saw vines and trees somewhere in the distance, but she wasn't sure.

It was still raining.

"Jaina!"

The voices again. She looked around wildly.

"Where are you?"

"Jaina!"

She recognized the voices immediately. They belonged to Jacen and Anakin. She shuddered, remembering their last visit to her, when she was on Shanthral – and what they had said to her. If they had come to find her again, what did it mean this time for her future self?

"I'm here!" she called. "Jacen! Anakin!"

Silence. Then –

"We see you." Jacen's voice.

"You can? Why can't I see you?"

There was a pause.

"It puts too much strain on the corporeal fabrics of this world if we sent our physical forms," Jacen explained. "We don't want to tear the universe in half."

Jaina stared blankly into the mist. "What?"

"He means that we can't technically be here, so we sent our thoughts instead," Anakin clarified. "If we came here for real – or, as for real as you can get when you're trapped in suspended animation within the time vortex – we would punch a hole through the universe, and you _really_ don't want to do that."

Jaina laughed shakily. "I'll take your word for it." She hesitated. "What do you mean you're trapped in _suspended animation? _How is that possible? You're… you don't exist yet!"

"Um," Jacen began. "It's kind of like… erm…"

"How very articulate," Anakin snorted.

"Shut up!" Jacen said.

Jaina rolled her eyes. "You were trying to say?"

"Technically, all the souls of every person who will ever live – or ever lived – are suspended inside the time vortex," Anakin said quickly. "Because the time vortex can be accessed from any given point in time, there's the potential for x number of them not to exist yet, to be _in_ existence or to have already existed but died. That number is in constant flux and those souls are said to be in what we call _animation_ within the time vortex. They can come into existence at any time in their given time frame."

Jaina rubbed her forehead. "You're not making any sense."

"I know, isn't it nice?"

"Not really, no."

Anakin sighed. Jaina could imagine him rolling his eyes at this point.

"So, that's animation with the time vortex," she prodded. "What about suspended animation?"

"Uh, this is where it gets a bit trickier," Anakin said wistfully. "Suspended animation is for those souls who… well, who haven't come into existence yet, but whose existence is in jeopardy because someone from _their_ timeframe is muddying up a timeframe previous to theirs."

"Meaning, you," Jacen interrupted quickly. "Meaning you… in the past… trying to turn things around. At this point, we don't know how everything is going to turn out—"

"So you're basically exiled from the rest of the souls kept inside the vortex," Jaina said quickly, cutting across him. "You're somewhere else. Somewhere that technically doesn't exist, but then does exist."

"Hmm…" Jacen seemed to take the time to think about it. "Yeah, that's about right."

Jaina grimaced. "It sounds… I don't know. Kind of morbid."

Anakin laughed. "We're not doing a very good job of explaining it."

"And because it technically exists, but technically _doesn't_ exist at the same time," Jacen continued, "if we come and meddle here – which we could do because we're Force sensitive – then the universe gets a big hole in it because there's two powerful, _opposite_ forces pulling at it. Wait…" His voice paused. Jaina waited. "That makes no sense."

"No," Jaina agreed. "It doesn't." She sighed. "Why are you here? Is this a dream again, or is it real?"

"Does it matter?" Anakin asked.

"Sort of," Jaina replied.

"It doesn't matter," Jacen said. "We've come to take you to the cave. There's something you need to see."

Jaina couldn't help smiling. "I thought I needed to go there."

Jacen sighed. "Yeah, well… we were kind of prodding you."

"Sorry," Anakin added, sounding wistful.

Jaina ignored them. "Which way?" she asked.

Jacen cleared his throat. "Look ten paces to your left. You're already here."

Jaina spun to her left and looked around. The mist cleared, leaving her in the dark. As her eyes adjusted, she could just make out a dark, gaping hole in the vines. It looked unnervingly like a mouth. She froze.

"Jacen?" she called out hesitatingly. "Anakin?"

Neither of them answered. They were gone, as if they had never been there at all. As if it had been a dream.

Jaina looked around cautiously, pursing her lips, one hand straying to her belt to grip the hilt of her lightsaber. She knew she shouldn't fear the cave, but knowing that she now _had_ to walk into it gave her a sense of apprehension. Danger of any kind and any form could be waiting there. Steeling herself, she walked forwards and stepped into the darkness.

The darkness never lifted. The further in she went, the further away she became from her senses. At the mouth of the cave, she could hear the quiet noises of nocturnal animals, the whistle of wind in the trees and the sound of the pouring rain. She could smell the dark, dank odor of swamp water and feel the squish of mud beneath her boots. Inside the cave, all of that slowly vanished until there was nothing left.

Her heart was pounding frantically as she abruptly remembered where she had sensed something similar to this before: when she had been captured by Palpatine, moments before being forced to relive the death of her brother, Anakin.

She turned around rapidly, her fingers gripping the cold hardness of her lightsaber, and tried to find a way out of the cave. She tried to call out, but her voice was caught in her throat.

And she couldn't find the exit. It had ceased to exist.

"_I declare forthwith that the Royal House of Alderaan be dissolved. There shall be no more kings or queens; in their place, a Grand Moff shall be given rule of the planet and its system, a person who is loyal to me and who will serve the Empire well."_

Jaina froze. She knew that voice anywhere: it was Palpatine's. She spun around, looking for the source, but she couldn't see anything through the blackness.

Suddenly, the darkness around her dissolved and she was standing in a deserted street. Looking around at the tall, white structures, she realized that she must be somewhere on Alderaan. Jaina began walking down the street, but soon found that she didn't need to move -- she floated along alike a leaf on the wind, no more than a ghost. Rounding a corner, she gasped as she saw that this Alderaan was not the place she had visited.

It had been turned into a factory world, not unlike Raxus Prime. There was not much that remained of the gorgeous architecture of this world. Only a few streets here and there were untouched by the factories that had been constructed.

Thousands of years of culture, art and beauty – gone. Jaina swallowed hard. It was almost as if the Death Star _had_ destroyed the planet. Her hands balled into fists.

The scene flickered and changed.

She was standing in a large, black chamber. It had a high, arched ceiling and its walls remained undecorated. It was a foreboding place. There were two solitary figures in the room; one was sitting on a throne made of black stone, the other kneeling before it. The enthroned figure was wearing a black cloak and had pulled the hood up over his face so it cast him in shadow. Jaina stood a little ways away, her eyes never leaving the figure. She knew who it was without needing to see his face.

Palpatine.

He raised a hand and gestured to the man kneeling before him.

"_Rise, Lord Krayt."_

The man rose to his feet. _"What is my lord's will?"_

"_We have managed to capture one of the fugitives. I require you to interrogate this Jedi so we may discover the location of Luke and Leia Skywalker. It is essential for the continuation of our Order that we find them. I have foreseen it."_

Jaina stiffened. Judging from the way Palpatine spoke, it seemed that this scene took place sometime in the future. By how many years, Jaina did not know. Palpatine was going to try to turn both her mother and her uncle to the Dark side, probably for the same reasons he had been searching for her uncle in _her_ past. She gritted her teeth; if this was the future, then she would not let it happen.

"_Of course, my lord."_

Palpatine's new apprentice, Darth Krayt, turned then and Jaina saw his face for the first time. He was human, tall, and would not have been particularly frightening had it not been for the overwhelming presence of the Dark side she sensed and the angry, orange eye that contrasted sharply with a natural blue one. Her breath caught in her throat – this man was dangerous.

The only good thing was that it was a sign that Vader would never come to be.

The scene faded and changed once again.

This time, Jaina was not sure where she was. Her surroundings were strange and unfamiliar – a corridor inside a building, grey on all sides. She waited, uncertain of what would happen next and was just thinking of rounding the corner when a brown-haired woman, a yellow lightsaber in her hand, flew around the corner and pelted down the hall. Moments later, a fair-haired man followed her, also carrying a lightsaber – his was green. They both came to a halt only feet away from Jaina.

That was when she recognized them.

"Mom?" she breathed. "Uncle Luke?"

But Jaina was an invisible ghost to them, allowed only to watch. She stared at them, a lump in her throat. Leia's face was lined and there were deep bags under her eyes. Her thick brown hair was cropped short and she looked thinner than Jaina had ever seen her, as if she had been underfed for weeks. Her clothes, like Luke's were, well-worn and there were tears and frays around the edges. A long scar ran down Leia's forearm.

"_Are they__ coming?"_ she asked.

Luke nodded shortly.

Leia blinked. _"There's nowhere to run,"_ she said, her voice hollow. _"This is the end." _

"_I'm sorry, Leia,"_ Luke told her after a pause. _"It's my fault."_

Leia shook her head. _"No. Don't blame yourself."_

"_If I hadn't run off after imaginary shadows, then Han wouldn't have been captured. He would still been alive."_

Leia's expression hardened. _"You had nothing to do with his death, Luke. I don't blame you – and I never could. You were tricked by Sidious, as we all were. He's finally got what he wanted – our family handed to him on a silver platter to do with as he pleased."_

"_We should have been able to stop this."_

"_We couldn't. When Father died, everything was lost. We've always known that. There's never been any hope, despite our attempts to fight against him."_

"_There's always hope."_ Luke's eyes flashed – Jaina was suddenly reminded of Anakin as she heard her uncle speak. _"There always is if there is but one fool to fight for it."_

Leia smiled bitterly. _"I don't have your strength, Luke."_

He shook his head. _"You're wrong, Leia. You've always been stronger than me – and you always will." _He paused. _"The children, too."_

Leia sighed and looked away. _"The children… Who knows what is to become of them?"_

"_They'll fight on, Leia. After we're gone, they'll still be here to lead the Rebellion—"_

"_Not if Sidious finds them."_

"_Then he won't find them. We've left no traces. The only people who know where they are hidden are standing in this corridor."_

Leia's eyes narrowed. _"What are you thinking of?"_

Luke glanced at a small control panel on the wall to his left. Leia's eyes followed his gaze.

"_Oh,"_ she said.

"_I'm ready to go down fighting,"_ Luke told her, _"but I'm not ready to be captured and interrogated the way our friends were. And that's what they'll want. Sidious wants the twins and Anakin. I'm not going to let them get that chance."_

Leia paused. _"We'll take down at least half of them as we go," _she reasoned.

"_Yes."_

Her expression hardened with determination. _"Then let's do it."_

She took his hand and they deactivated their lightsabers. Walking over to the control panel, they raised their free hands simultaneously and gave each other one last look before typing in a code and pulling the switch.

Gas began to flood the corridor.

"NO!" Jaina shouted. _"No, you can't do that!" _

Her cries were futile. They were never heard. Jaina's vision was obscured by the thick clouds of gas that came pouring out of nowhere; soon her vision faded altogether, blurred and changed into something else.

It was if she was flying on the air. Below her, she could see the ground of a reddish-brown planet stretching out for miles and miles. Across the plains, she could see cities burning, billowing smoke up in a sky that was filled with Imperial fighters. Soldiers marched across the ground, leaving a trail of dead in their wake. Jaina could just make out the victims – some alien species that she could not recall the name of.

She trembled with horror. She didn't know when or where this event was occurring, but it was clear enough what was happening: Palpatine had ordered genocide. He was slaughtering innocents, his reasoning solely based on his xenophobic feelings. Jaina turned her face away, closing her eyes as she tried to block out the images.

Hundreds of years – maybe even thousands – of horror awaited the Galaxy if they failed to defeat Palpatine. He would stop at nothing to lead a reign of terror against his enemies and those he feared, enslaving the Galaxy. With his knowledge of time travel, he had infinite resources at his command.

If he wanted to live forever, Jaina knew that he could.

"Stop it!" she shouted. "Stop it, I've seen enough!"

If Anakin failed to kill Palpatine, here was the proof that everything would be lost. Her family would be in shambles, her father dead, her mother and uncle sacrificing themselves, the fates of her brothers unknown. The Jedi Order would never be re-established. Alderaan's peaceful ways would be destroyed and the millions of non-human species would be at risk. She had always known that, to some extent, but she could never envision it before.

Now she knew what it looked like – and it frightened her as much as it sickened her. Enveloped in darkness again, Jaina ran, uncertain though she was of the way out of the cave. Blindly running, suddenly she felt her senses come back to her as she heard the croak of some undistinguishable reptile and the squish of mud. Her hands gripped slimy vines as she used them to guide her out of the cave. Soon, she was free of the darkness and she backed away from the gaping hole in the trees.

It was still raining.

Jaina stood still, letting herself become drenched. Slowly, reality came back to her. The past minutes – or hours – were a blur and hardly any of it seemed real. How much of it had been true? Had Anakin and Jacen really come to visit her, or had that been a dream? The last thing she clearly remembered was finding her way, almost trance-like, back to the ship, yet here she was, knee-deep in swamp water, staring at the mouth of the cave she had set out to find.

She swallowed hard. The cave had a way of twisting ones fears, but how much of what she had seen – images that she could so vividly remember – was true?

She decided that she didn't want to know.

Jaina stumbled back through the jungle, her thoughts focused only on what she had seen in the cave. Her feet led themselves and her cloak hung loosely around her. Her hair was drenched and water ran down her face, but she barely noticed that. She was unaware of how much time was passing while she walked, making her way back to the ship, but it did seem to be getting lighter. She looked upwards; they sky was smeared with dark rain clouds, though it seemed to becoming dark grey instead of black. Perhaps the sun was rising.

When she was almost back, it had become light enough for Jaina to see through the vines and vegetations at the edge of the glade where she had landed the ship. As she made her way forwards, she caught sight of Anakin coming down the ramp, deeply involved in wrapping his cloak tightly around him.

Jaina forced her way through the vines and called out to him.

"Anakin!"

He looked up and frowned. "Jaina? What are you doing out here?"

She didn't have time to answer. Before she could speak, a blaster shot flew towards Anakin. He spun, jumping out of the way just in time as the bolt passed him and hit a tree. A branch was severed and it fell to the ground with a _thud, _missing Jaina by inches.

Anakin's eyes narrowed and he looked up and caught her eye. The Force rippled with apprehension. Jaina pulled her lightsaber from her belt, activating it. It was eerily silent and the densely vegetated area seemed to echo with the sound of the falling branch.

Suddenly, Anakin snapped. He ignited his lightsaber, spinning around – and disappeared into a volley of blaster fire.


	41. Crash

**CHAPTER XLI**

**Crash**

"ANAKIN!"

Jaina's voice was drowned out in her own ears as she threw herself forwards, the after-effects of visiting the cave abruptly shaken off as reality came crashing down around her. They hadn't been careful enough. They hadn't had the resources to _be_ careful. The Empire had tracked them to Dagobah.

And they weren't ready to leave. The ship wasn't in top condition yet.

They weren't getting out of this.

The clearing suddenly burst with sound and light as clone troopers fought their way through the thick trees. Blaster fire flew through the air, exploding on trees and snapping branches, catching parts of the vegetation on fire. Rain still fell thickly rain from the dark sky above. The flames smoldered in the dampness, licking the edges of the trees, smoked and then fizzled out, leaving behind the stench of damp wood that was unsuccessfully burnt and thick, black plumes of smoke.

As Jaina ran forwards, her lightsaber thrumming in her ears, her vision obscured by smoke. She crashed through the trees, twisting her wrist to catch a blaster bolt on the edge of her blade. It bounced away at an odd angle, slicing through a branch above. Jaina threw herself to one side as the branch tumbled down. Off-balance for just a moment, she stumbled as she ducked under a barrage of fire from a group of clones who saw her through the trees, throwing herself to the ground. She rolled, mud flying around her, and came back up on her feet, her lightsaber swinging in a violet arc to repel the line of blaster bolts that came flying towards her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the bolts bounce back towards the clones, where they took down several who had aimed at her.

Jaina took one rapid glance around, her heart thundering in her chest. Where was Anakin? Across the clearing, she saw the ship, scratched and scored already by the vehement assault of blaster fire; the ramp was still lowered. At its base, a familiar crimson lightsaber swung, expertly fending off a vicious onslaught.

Her senses screamed at her. Jaina spun, mud flying around her; her saber came crashing down on a blaster held not even two feet away from her, slicing through the handle and the hand that held it. Lashing out with a foot, she kicked her attacker in the chest and leaped over his body, ducking several more shots aimed at her as she came to the edge of the clearing.

"ANAKIN!" she yelled.

_Where the hell is he?_

Veteran Jedi though they were, they were not at their full-strength. They would not be able to withstand the assault for much longer – none of them would. Even Anakin would grow tired at some point, his tactics and power overcome by exhaustion. And with this many clones…

The Empire's strength lay in numbers. No matter how many enemies they killed attempting to leave, they would have to face more. They were outnumbered, and this time there was no running. No hiding. They were surrounded.

Even if they managed to get onboard the ship and fly away – hyperspace or no – they only be safe for a little while; they would still be followed.

And that was an "if."

Suddenly, Jaina screamed in pain. A well-aimed blaster shot penetrated the violet net made by her whirling lightsaber and hit her forearm. Her lightsaber flew from her grip as the force of the blaster bolt knocked her off-balance and she slammed into the base of the tree she was standing beside. The impact of hitting the tree and the sharp pain in her arm knocked the wind from her lungs and she gasped for breath, trying to clear her vision. She glanced down; the wound was bleeding freely and her arm was slowly going numb. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to control the pain, to throw it from her mind. She turned her head, trying to peer through the darkness to see where her lightsaber was.

A shadow crossed her vision. She looked up, staring straight into the barrel of a blaster. A split second before the clone who held it could fire, she threw herself forwards in a lunge and knocked him down. The blaster fired and the shot flew into the air, missing Jaina's cheek by inches. Using the Force, she pulled the weapon from her opponent's hand and sent it into her own. Danger signs screamed at her from all directions; still kneeling on the ground, she turned just in time to see a line of clones taking aim at her.

Before she had time to react, a blue lightsaber ignited in the darkness, plunging its way through the line of enemies. A moment later, Obi-Wan appeared out of the dark and helped her to her feet. In the light from his blade, his face looked pale and worn. There was already a cut across one of his cheeks.

"Are you all right?" he asked anxiously.

Jaina blinked and passed her left hand across her face, wiping water out of her eyes. "Where's Anakin?" She sounded breathless to her own ears.

"I don't know," Obi-Wan replied hurriedly. "He led a group of them out into the woods; divisionary tactics, he would probably call it." He shook his head. "Reckless. We have to get out of here."

"There's no getting out of here." Cold. Hard.

Did she really believe it?

"Jaina—"

"It's nothing." She knew that he had caught sight of her wounded arm. She bit her lip; he didn't need to worry about it. They all needed to concentrate on keeping themselves alive; they had no time to be distracted by each others' conditions.

"It looks bad. If we –"

"It's not bad." Jaina caught his eye as she said it. It was a lie, and she knew that he could see that it was. Her forearm was turning numb.

"Listen, get back on board the ship—"

Jaina's eyes darted towards the ramp. No good, there were clones crawling all over it and Kyp was no longer there, she couldn't tell where he was through the hectic flurry of the battle…

"—and I'll go find Anakin—"

"No!" Jaina interrupted through gritted teeth. She swallowed hard. "If we have any chance of getting out of here, we can't split up. We have to fight together—" She stopped abruptly and darted to one side as Obi-Wan's lightsaber flashed around her, deflecting several blaster bolts aimed at them. As Jaina moved, she caught sight of her lightsaber lying in the mud. She reached out her good hand and called for it with the Force; it landed lightly in her grip. She activated it and spun around, batting away another shot.

Their conversation interrupted, Jaina and Obi-Wan found themselves being forced backwards, away from the ship and into the trees. The vines and thick vegetation obscuring their vision and blocking their movements, they soon found themselves fighting almost back to back. Jaina blinked, trying to keep the water out of her eyes. It had been raining hard and long enough that she was completely drenched, her clothes splattered with mud. Her arm was still bleeding and hung limply at an odd angle by her side, completely useless.

Suddenly, an explosion ripped through the air. Jaina slid to a stop in the mud, turning in the direction of where a large blast had set part of the forest ablaze. She glanced at Obi-Wan.

"What was that?"

"I have a feeling," he said slowly, "that Anakin had something to do with that."

* * *

The wind tore at Anakin's clothes as he flew through the air. Bitterly cold, his clothes drenched by the rain, only his concentration on the task at hand kept him from shivering. His senses flared with danger signals; he didn't need to look behind him to know where his enemies were. He could hear the sound of their speeders through the thundering rain; he could sense them through the Force. He knew they were closing in on him.

When the first blaster bolt had been shot and he had thrown himself into battle, Anakin had been more aware of what was going on around him than his companions as he had been able to see the formations. Clone troopers had them surrounded and were marching out of the forest to converge on them. However, Anakin had not had the time to be taken aback by the sheer number of the enemy; he had been concentrating on something else.

A large portion of them had arrived by speeder bike and had – unwisely – left several attended so their riders could fight the Jedi on foot. Fighting his way through a barrage of blaster fire, Anakin had managed to work his way towards the speeder bikes without much harm befalling him. One shot had caught him unawares, grazing his arm, but otherwise he had been unhurt when he had jumped on to the nearest speeder bike and rushed off into the trees. Moments later, he had known that his trick had worked as he heard the sound of several other speeders following his.

Once on board the bike, Anakin hadn't been quite sure what to do next. He had realized that he didn't have much of a plan, so he looped around the trees, using the Force to dodge possible natural hazards and the shots being fired at him. Unfortunately, many of his pursuers were skilled at flying and continued to follow him closely.

That left him here, deep in the forest, flying rapidly away from his companions, pursued by those who were intent on tracking him down and either killing or capturing him. The only comforting fact was that he had managed to lead a good portion of them away from his friends; the only problem was that he had no idea how strong of a force the Empire had sent to Dagobah. For all he knew, there could be a dozen Star Destroyers waiting for them to try to make an escape into hyperspace.

Anakin cursed under his breath as he ducked under a low-hanging branch. Behind him, he heard a shriek as the closest clone trooper wasn't quite as fast enough. The rider-less speeder bike lost control and burst into flames as it crashed into the trees.

If he had just worked faster on repairing the ship, they could have escaped this mess. They could have been on their way to someplace else where they could get a new, better ship. They would have been safe from Palpatine's tireless hunt.

If, if, if… thinking about how they could have avoided this was not going to do him any good. They were trapped and only a miracle was going to get them out now. Anakin gritted his teeth. A miracle…

Well, they were Jedi Knights and they were intent on escaping. They would come up with something if it was the last thing they ever did.

Anakin blinked, trying to keep the rain that was pelting his face out of his eyes. An idea had occurred to him. He could fly in circles leading these clones on a merry chase until there was no power left in the speeder bike, or he could do something with more desired results.

Glancing behind him to double check the distance between himself and the nearest clone, Anakin veered to the left and suddenly pulled his speeder to a halt. The clone went flying by him, but not before Anakin used the Force to propel himself forwards and on to the back of the clone's speeder. A quick tussle resulted in both Anakin and his opponent falling from the speeder bike towards the ground. As the bike exploded in the trees several feet away, Anakin landed hard on the ground and leapt to his feet, igniting his lightsaber. The blue blade slashed through the air, slicing into his opponent.

Hearing the roar of the engines from the approaching speeder bikes, Anakin quickly pulled free the nearest detonator. Peering through the rain, Anakin's grip on the detonator tightened as he took careful aim before releasing the weapon. The Force-propelled detonator flew directly into the ranks of the oncoming speeder bikes. Anakin turned and threw himself sideways into some low-lying vegetation, covering his head with his arms as the detonator exploded.

Anakin could just feel the heat from the blast as metal exploded and the surrounding vegetation burst into flame. He rose quickly to his feet, wiping his hand across a bleeding scratch on his forehead he had received from some overly sharp plant in the thicket, and surveyed the damage. The trees that had caught on fire were smoldering and smoking heavily. Anakin coughed, covering his mouth and nose with a hand as he tried to peer through the thick, black smoke. His vision obscured by the darkness of the night sky, the insistent rain and the smoke, he resorted to using the Force as his eyes to sense any approaching enemies. He found none.

_Did I really get them all?_

His plan had worked better than he had expected it.

Gripping his lightsaber in his hand, Anakin started off at a run in the direction he had come in. Doubtless his companions needed help back at the clearing and it would take him much more time to get back to help them than it did to get out here.

He only hoped that he would make it in time.

* * *

Kyp had suddenly found that he detested fighting in the rain, at night, with an enemy whose preferred weapons were blasters and grenades. He supposed that he had been labeled "expendable" by Palpatine, as the clones were not making any attempts to capture him. They had forced him away from the entrance to the ship before several of them hiding in the trees began to try to use grenades on him. Thankfully, they were easy enough to stop by using the Force to switch them off or send in a different direction, but it was becoming both tiresome and difficult to do while he was attempting to fend off blaster bolts at the same time.

The clearing had become a burning ring of smoldering trees and smoke. In every direction, signs of the fight were visible. The sides of the ship were scorched by stray blaster bolts, the trampled soil had turned a muddy red, the bodies of their enemies were scattered across the ground. Four Jedi were apparently much more difficult to take down when the element of surprise was lost, though Kyp knew they held the upper hand as their strength was in numbers. He was tiring and though he was trying to tell himself that he had plenty of energy left, he would not be able to fight indefinitely. Sooner or later, he would make a mistake and that could very well cost him his life.

It was Coruscant all over again, only this time they didn't have thousands of empty, hidden passages to make a get-away. They didn't have any Senators to rescue them. They had a swamp planet, with vegetation barring the way to a quick escape, and they were completely surrounded.

No way out.

_Why?!_ Kyp demanded to himself, his saber flashing in front of him to deflect several blaster bolts before sweeping back to strike a clone trooper standing behind him. It was a useless question. He already knew why. Palpatine would not rest until he and Jaina were dispatched and Anakin was captured. To protect himself and all his gains, the Dark Lord of the Sith needed to get rid of any threats. Doubtless he would try to tempt Anakin to the Dark side once again, but whether or not Anakin would take whatever bait Palpatine had to offer, Kyp did not know. This attack came at the worst of times. Skywalker had hit rock bottom and he was vulnerable. He was unsure of where he stood, though he knew full well what he had to do. Without being given the time to come to terms with his destiny, who knew what path Anakin would choose?

Kyp shook the thoughts from his mind as he ducked into the trees to avoid being hit by a blaster shot. The blast hit the tree and bark shattered outwards in all directions. Spying the limp body of a dead clone trooper nearby, Kyp summoned the clone's blaster with the Force and stepped out from under cover, firing a shot back at his attacker. The red bolt hit the clone in the chest and he fell to the ground.

Taking a quick glance around, Kyp finally spotted Jaina and Obi-Wan on the opposite side of the clearing, fighting clones back-to-back, their lightsabers weaving and flashing around them. Anakin was still nowhere in sight. He took off at a fast pace, dodging blaster bolts more than deflecting them. He was half-way across the clearing when the ground at his feet exploded, catapulting him through the air in a shower of dirt. He landed hard on the ground, his face in the thick, wet mud, the breath knocked from his lungs.

"KYP!"

He struggled to his feet and suddenly found that Jaina was trying to help him up. She had a pained look on her face; her teeth were clenched and her eyes were wild. One arm hung limply at her side. The skin of her arm was drenched with blood and judging from the odd angle, it was broken. Kyp motioned for her to stop.

"Jaina, don't hurt yourself—"

"I'm _fine—"_

"Shavit, you're not fine, your arm's broken—!"

"Are you all right, they threw a grenade right at your feet—"

She yelped and they suddenly threw themselves in opposite directions to avoid the volley of blaster fire aimed at them. With two identical _snap-hisses,_ they simultaneously activated their lightsabers and deflected several more bolts. Kyp threw her a look and slid forwards momentarily in the mud when he shifted his weight; he splashed through a pool that had formed on the ground from the persistent rain and immediately pulled back to avoid being gored by her violet blade as she deflected another shot.

"Where's Anakin?"

"How should—" She stopped speaking abruptly as she whirled around to strike the clones coming up behind her. "—I know?! He ran off when the battle startled!"

"Where did he go?"

She growled, possibly partially at him, partially at her enemies as her speech was interrupted once again by another volley. "He went somewhere and then blew something up and I haven't seen him at—" She ducked and rolled, slashing an approaching clone trooper's blaster in half before striking down her opponent.

"What do you mean, he blew something up—?!" Kyp cut himself off as a clone attempted to tackle him from behind. He felt a well-aimed kick to the back of his knees and he fell forwards into the mud as his legs gave out. Swinging his saber around, he struck the clone down but not before he had dropped a grenade. Cursing, Kyp staggered to his feet and threw himself out of the way, pulling Jaina with him.

The grenade exploded. The force of the blast caught both the Jedi and sent them tumbling to the ground, their lightsaber knocked from their grip. Mud and dirt flew in every direction, as did splinters from the trees that were caught in the blast. Shouts and screams issued from the forest, where unsuspecting clone troopers had been hit and injured. The trees flared with flame, only to have the raging fire smothered by the downpour of rain.

Kyp staggered to his feet, helping Jaina up.

"Are you all right?" he asked hurriedly.

She was looking for her lightsaber. Spying it on the ground, she summoned it with the Force and caught it with her good hand. She looked winded. "I'm… fine." She flinched as a blaster bolt went flying by her, a little too close for comfort.

"MOVE!"

Obi-Wan's cry, seemingly out of nowhere, alerted them to the danger just in time. Turning and running into the trees for cover, Kyp and Jaina narrowly avoided being hit by two shots from a speeder bike that came zooming out of the forest. It flew by them, then swung around for a second attempt –

Kyp's lightsaber deflected the shot and as the speeder flew by, it severed part of it. Smoking, the speeder crashed into the ground, landing on its side, its rider buried under it. Part of it had been almost sliced in half and dangled precariously from the side, waiting to fall.

Jaina was breathing heavily. "That… was close."

"Too close," Obi-Wan said, coming to stand next to them. His eyes scanned the clearing; he looked worried. "Anakin tricked most of those on speeder bike into following him when he went off into the woods—"

"That doesn't mean anything," Jaina interrupted. A light flashed towards them; they ducked and the blaster bolt flew over their heads. "He'll come back."

Kyp glanced across at the ship again. His eyes narrowed. "If we can just get across the clearing without being shot, we should be able to board the ship now without any problems," he murmured. "Look, they left it unguarded."

"That's if there're no clones onboard," Obi-Wan said.

"And hopefully no Star Destroyers in the sky," Jaina added. She bit her lip. "Where is he?"

Kyp caught her eye. They couldn't leave until Anakin was with them, but who knew if they could hold out that long?

* * *

Anakin ran. His muscles protested, demanding for him to slow down, but he continued forwards. The trees and the thickly tangled vegetation passed by as he made his way back towards the clearing. His saber sliced through the thick bushes that barred his way and slowed him down. He was thankful that he had not been attacked since throwing the grenade, but he was continually on the watch for any more speeders that might come flying by when he least expected it.

Through the dripping canopy of trees, the sky above was slowly getting lighter, though the rain continued its steady downpour, soaking the soil past its saturation point. Instead of black, the sky looked more like a dark grey, a sign that though morning had come, the thick rainclouds were here to stay.

Anakin knew he was approaching the clearing when the sounds of battle rose up out of the trees. He could hear the pounding of footsteps, the crackle of blaster shots and cries and shouts as soldiers were struck down. Above all this was the distinctive thrumming sound of three lightsaber.

They were still alive.

He sighed with relief and plunged through the vegetation to the edge of the clearing.

Anakin quickly took the sight in. He was on the opposite side of the clearing from the ship, whose ramp was still lowered but it was left unguarded by the clones. The remains of a wrecked speeder were close to his feet, and then, only several meters away, Obi-Wan, Kyp and Jaina stood fighting back-to-back. Jaina saw him first; her face was bruised and scratched from the battle, but her eyes lit up as she saw him.

"Anakin!" she shouted before swinging around to face an attacker. The clone trooper's hand released something just as he was struck down by her violet blade.

He rushed forwards to help, the thrum of his lightsaber filling his ears, his footsteps wet and heavy in the thick mud. He had almost reached them when Obi-Wan caught sight of him.

"Anakin, no--!"

Too late. A grenade, thrown at him by the clone Jaina had just killed, had landed in the mud at his feet. He stepped backwards and used the Force in an attempt to flick it away to somewhere were it would do less damage, but just as it was lifted into the air, it exploded.

Anakin landed hard on his stomach some feet away, coughing as the wind was knocked from his lungs. His vision was blurred; he blinked rapidly to clear it, but all he could see was dark blurs. Shaking his head, he blinked again and raised his chin to get of a view of the damage. He saw the flashing shapes of three lightsabers; his companions had not been hurt.

He reached out for his own lightsaber, but found that it had been knocked from his grasp. Anakin tensed for a moment; he couldn't see it. He rolled up so he was on his knees in the mud, searching for his weapon as blaster bolts flew over his head.

Suddenly, danger signals went off in his mind. He sprang to his feet, lightsaber or no lightsaber, and turned just in time to see a small figure with a violet blade in her hand springing at him.

Everything happened so fast, Anakin barely realized what happening until it was over. He saw Jaina first, leaping at him out of nowhere. He shot her a questioning look and then saw a shadowed movement in his peripheral vision. As he turned, he was staring directly into the barrel of a gun held a foot away from him, the trigger already being pulled. He was raising his hand when something barreled into him, shoving him to one side. Anakin fell, tasting mud in his mouth, but as he did he heard the blaster fire.

A moment later, Jaina's body slammed backwards into the side of the crashed speeder. Her brown eyes were wide with shock; her lightsaber dropped from her grip and deactivated itself. A split second later, there was a second shot – one that hit her directly in the chest. Blood blossomed across her clothes. She clutched a trembling hand to her chest, her eyes rolling back in her head as she coughed up blood. Then she limply fell to one side; moments later, a loose piece that had nearly been blasted off the speeder broke and fell on top of her, crushing the lower half of her body.

"JAINA!"

The strangled cry belonged to Kyp. Out of the corner of his eye, Anakin saw him trying to fight his way through at least a dozen clones all intent on holding him back. Obi-Wan was yelling something at him, but Anakin couldn't make out what it was. The crimson saber flashed, blaster shots were fired, red light streaked through the air—

And all Anakin could do was stare. Stare, in horror, at the scene manifesting before his eyes, the scene that he knew so well in his mind. The terrible vision he had dreamed over and over again, where he had once thought he had seen Padmé lying there, broken and bruised, in the mud.

Shock had frozen time. He couldn't move, even though he wanted to. He wanted to run to her, to see how badly she was injured, to see if she was still alive, even though the wound in her chest told him otherwise. Her limp, lifeless form told her otherwise.

"NO!"

His shout seemed to echo around him as he staggered to his feet and ran towards Jaina's unmoving form. His boots stuck in the mud, slowing him down; water dripped down his face. The clearing suddenly seemed so vividly familiar, even though when he had first seen it he had seen it as a jungle. Someone reached out and caught hold of his arm. He lashed out, both with the Force and with his own limbs and sent his attacker flying backwards.

He caught sight of his lightsaber lying hilt-up in the muck. He summoned it, and it flew into his hand with such force that the cold metal hurt his hand upon impact. A split-second later, it was activated and the blue blade sprang to life, striking down any enemy that dared to approach him.

In his mind, he could barely register what he had just seen.

Jaina was dead.

It couldn't be true. For all the things that had happened in the past weeks, he could never have imagined her ever dying. The stranger from the future, the one with the frightening knowledge of what could be should he fail, the one who had come here to help _him._ She had failed her mission and passed it on to him – and yet he didn't know what to do. He had never realized it before, but he needed her. The moment he had seen her lying there, he felt as though part of him had been torn away.

A part that, for good or for bad, he desperately needed.

_She can't be dead!_ his mind thought furiously.

Through the sheets of rain and the flashes of red light from the blaster shots, Anakin saw her limp form lying in the mud. He froze.

Every inch of reality was telling him otherwise.

"ANAKIN!"

Anakin spun around and saw Obi-Wan standing nearby, his expression anguished. He caught Anakin's eye for a moment and then turned around, quickly deflecting several bolts sent his way. Beside him, Kyp's crimson lightsaber weaved its way through the air, steadily deflecting bolts. A stony grimness had come across his expression.

Obi-Wan managed to spare him a glance. "Anakin, hurry!"

"I can't!" Anakin yelled back. He glanced despairingly back at Jaina, but he could no longer see her through the horde of clone troopers making their way out of the forest towards him. They were forcing him backwards, away from Jaina. He, Obi-Wan and Kyp were surrounded.

Moving backwards, Anakin raised his lightsaber to deflect the onslaught of blaster fire being sent in his direction. His mind had gone numb, his movements mechanical. Somewhere behind him, he could sense Obi-Wan and Kyp fighting. They were almost at the centre of the clearing now…

"Come on!" Obi-Wan yelled.

Anakin glanced at him. He saw briefly a passage through to the ship's ramp.

They could make it. If they could get on board, they could escape…

But they were too late already.

Anakin clenched his teeth and whirled around, deflecting a volley of blaster bolts in several quick moves. Then he ran, his lightsaber flashing from side to side where it was needed to keep him safe.

Escape had come too late.

His feet hit the ramp with a _clunk_ several paces behind Obi-Wan_._ He turned momentarily and saw the clones converging on them. Kyp was still in the clearing, fighting them off. Soon he would be swarmed under.

"KYP!" Anakin shouted.

The Jedi was not listening. He yelled in fury, his crimson saber flashing. Anakin ducked as a blaster bolt flew over his head and scored the side of the ship.

"Kyp, it's no use!" Obi-Wan shouted.

With one final yell – one torn by grief – Kyp slashed his lightsaber down one more time and turned, running towards the ship. Ducking the blaster fire sent in his direction, he ran up the ramp and into the ship after Anakin and Obi-Wan. He palmed the control on the wall, and the ramp raised itself and the door retracted. Anakin was in the lead as they ran to the cockpit, the ship rocking and shuddering from the constant volley of blaster fire.

Wordlessly, they strapped themselves in as Anakin fired up the engines, praying that though he had not quite finished the repair job, the ship would hold together long enough for them to escape. Pulling on the yoke, he coaxed the ship into a lift-off and sent it soaring up towards the atmosphere, leaving the blaster fire behind.

It was quiet in the cockpit. None of them were capable of speaking, nor sure what to say.

Below them, the forested swampland of Dagobah spiraled away. Anakin clenched his teeth as they went through the atmosphere, telling himself repeatedly that his work _would_ keep the ship together and that they would not burn up. Soon, the ship shot out into the vacuum of space. Anakin released his grip on the yoke and examined the navchart for the coordinates to the nearest, safest place for them to land and find a new ship.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan's voice said warningly.

Anakin glanced up.

"Shavit!" he shouted.

Coming directly towards them was a Star Destroyer, surrounded by starfighters. Cursing vehemently, Anakin pushed the ship in a downwards motion, knowing that some skilled flying was going to be needed if they were to ever to escape this alive.

Especially since they didn't have anything to fight back with.

Swerving to the left, Anakin narrowly missed the fire shot at them by the closest pair of starfighters. Dodging back to the right, he sent the ship upwards, missing the second set of shots. All they needed was to get far enough away from the planet to make a hyperspace jump – he just needed to push the ship a little further…

Anakin yelped as the ship rocked and a red light went off, blinking madly. Anakin checked it and swore loudly; their defenses were practically non-existent. Another direct hit and they were done for.

Gritting his teeth, he dodged more shots from the starfighters. A though occurred to him; they knew he was onboard this ship. If Palpatine wanted him alive, then that Star Destroyer would be activating its tractor beam any time soon…

Almost as if thinking of the Sith Lord's name had caused it, Anakin sensed a familiar, dark presence in his mind. He shuddered, and immediately blocked it out. Glancing at the navchart, he shot a request at Obi-Wan to input the data for their flight. Knowing that they would only have one chance at this, Anakin spun the ship to the right to avoid fire from another starfighter. The path was clear. He slammed his hand down on the control panel and sent the ship into hyperspace.

Stars blurred and then they were gone, leaving the Empire's forces in their wake and the death of a friend on their minds. For hours, there was nothing to say, nothing to do. Near-tangible grief filled the cockpit. Silent anguish had overtaken them as Jaina's death weighed heavily on their minds.


	42. Lacrimosa

**CHAPTER XLII**

**Lacrimosa**

The coordinates were set for Seswenna and they had made a silent agreement not to prolong their stay. Though it was in a different sector, Seswenna was still too close to Dagobah for comfort. The Empire would be on their heels and none of them – not Anakin, nor Kyp, nor Obi-Wan – felt that they would survive another attack. They had to exchange their ship and get out as fast as they could.

Kyp thought that they could go through the motions, but he knew that it their arrival on the planet would be wraith-like. The shock of what they had witnessed in that fated clearing on Dagobah was still settling in. The three Jedi's grief was tangible through the Force, so much so that they could almost hear each other's thoughts.

They all revolved around what they could have done to save Jaina's life.

Images from the battle played in Kyp's mind, glimpses he had caught of her through the relentless rain and the flashes of blaster fire, her violet lightsaber bright in her hand as she fought on. For a fleetingly hopeful moment, he thought he had seen the incident wrong, that the blaster shot hadn't hit her in the chest, that she was alive and waiting for them to turn around –

No.

_Your mind's playing tricks on you._

He clenched his fists. His throat was dry; he felt frozen, unable to move as the horror of what had happened sank in. He desperately searched for someone to blame, someone that he could lash out at, but he knew that it was pointless. The Empire was responsible. Palpatine was responsible.

_Jaina…_

It was Carida all over again. He had learned falsely from the Empire that his brother had been dead before he had used the Suncrusher to destroy the planet. The horror of learning that Zeth Durron was not, in fact, dead and knowing that _he_ was responsible for his own brother's death had driven him to rage and deeper into the clutches of the Dark side all those years ago. The wounds of that terrible day had healed, but he had been left scarred. He could still feel the ancient guilt and now it was threatening to overthrow him again.

He could have done something. He could have done anything – it should have been him catching that blaster bolt, not her.

Jaina had sacrificed herself for Anakin. She had done what she needed to keep their mission alive. Destroying Palpatine was what she had fought for and by preventing Anakin's death she had kept their only hope alive. Palpatine's fear of what she could do had brutally torn her life away from her. She was twenty-three years old. She had seen death a hundred times over from a young age. She had put her life on the line countless times, always fighting for what she believed in, fighting to defend those she loved and the Galaxy she strove to protect.

And now she was gone. The Sword of the Jedi had fought her last battle.

He barely noticed the pain in his palms from the fingernails digging into his skin as his fists clenched tighter.

Weeping was a natural part of grief, but he could not cry for her. Would not. Not until she was revenged. The Empire had once taken his family from him. Now they had taken Jaina's life.

"Kyp—"

It was Obi-Wan who spoke. Kyp glanced at him. The Jedi Master's expression was stony.

"She knew what she was doing."

Kyp stood up. He was shaking, but whether from rage or grief, he didn't know. Without a word, he strode out of the cockpit.

Neither Obi-Wan nor Anakin followed him.

* * *

It seemed that they had barely managed to reach firm ground on Seswenna when the ship finally drew its last breath. Dilapidated and battle-scarred, its engines cut out for good moments after touching down. Anakin had piloted the ship to a secluded area outside one of the space ports. With luck, it wouldn't take them long to find a way to contact the _Tantive IV_ from here or find a new ship. They had no credits on them, but there were other ways of getting what they needed.

Obi-Wan was the one who managed to trick the owner of a cantina into letting them use his transceiver. After checking it to make sure there were no listening devices attached to the emitter/receiver, he punched in the codes for the _Tantive IV._ A moment later, the transmission was received and the image of Captain Antilles appeared.

"General Kenobi?" He sounded startled, then relieved. "Oh, this is excellent news! We haven't been able to get in touch with the ship you used to escape from Alderaan—"

"On the account that the ship was severely damaged during our escape," Obi-Wan interrupted.

"Where's Padmé?" Anakin asked abruptly.

"She, Senator Organa and Master Yoda are in the stateroom. I can forward the transmission to there for you."

"Please do," Obi-Wan said.

Captain Antilles' image flickered and was replaced by the shocked and relieved images of Padmé, Bail and Yoda. They were sitting at the table where they had previously held their meetings; Padmé raised a hand and pressed it to her mouth. Her eyes searched out for Anakin's.

"Anakin!" she breathed. "Your safe… you're all safe. We were so worried that you wouldn't make it."

Anakin swallowed hard. His throat was dry; he glanced at Kyp, who was refusing to look at the transmission. Anakin looked back at Padmé.

"We're…" He faltered. An image of Jaina crossed his mind and he shook it from his thoughts, his hands clenching into fists. No. He could grieve later.

"We can't keep this transmission open for long," Obi-Wan said. His eyes glanced at the door that led back to the cantina. "I mind-tricked the owner of the premises into letting us use the system, but we can't run the risk of staying for too long."

"Where are you, Master Kenobi?" Yoda asked.

"Seswenna," he answered. "Before we were—"

"Send us the coordinates of your location and we can come to you," Bail interrupted. "From the sound of it the ship is in no condition to fly again."

"No." Obi-Wan sighed. "I'll forward the coordinates. We can talk once we're back onboard; we have much to discuss."

"We'll come as soon as we can," Bail said.

Obi-Wan nodded. Anakin caught Padmé's eye one more time before the transmission closed; there was something deeply unsettling about her expression. She looked concerned, but it was more than that. She smiled faintly at him in farewell and then the transmission ended.

The waiting began.

The space port was not overly large, and the Jedi took the time to wander, making sure that they did not linger in one place for longer than necessary. The sky had become overcast and soon it was raining. Anakin gritted his teeth as he felt the first drops begin to fall. He had enough of rain.

It was as if the weather was reflecting on the grief that still gripped them. Kyp walked stonily beside them, haven't not said a word since Dagobah. Anakin felt very much the way the Jedi looked – frozen. Something in his mind seemed to want to argue that Jaina was not dead, that she was still living and needed their help. It went against what he had seen and he wanted to believe that it was true, but he could not.

Jaina. He had never before contemplated what it would be like without her presence there, but now that she was gone, he felt… empty. He felt like there was something was missing, some piece of the puzzle gone astray that could never be found again. His mind brought up memories of their last discussion – the blazing argument where she had tried to place her faith in him so he could face his fears. Upon reflection, there had been something in her tone that told him that she believed every word she said.

If she had been indeed sent here to help him face his destiny, to put him on the right path, then she had sacrificed herself to the success of that mission.

He shivered. It wasn't right. Wasn't there have been anything he could have done to prevent it from happening at all? If he had been more aware… if the chaotic events of the battle had not interfered, he would never have found himself in a situation where his life needed saving.

He wanted desperately to refuse her death. Somehow, it was not right without her here. Anakin glanced over at Kyp again. His expression was unreadable, but his grief was tangible through the Force.

The rain continued its steady downpour.

* * *

When the _Tantive IV_ arrived on Seswenna, Padmé was the first to run down the ramp towards her friends. Overwhelmed at learning that they were safe, she threw herself into Anakin's arms and kissed him fervently. When she finally let go, she caught sight of Kyp, whose grim expression startled her. He caught her eye for a moment and then looked away towards the dull, overcast sky.

Padmé bit her lip and turned back to her husband. She raised a hand to his face, gently brushing his cheek, mindful of the scratches and bruises that covered it. "Anakin, we were so worried, we weren't sure you would make it—"

There was something unsettling in his tone of voice as he spoke. "I'm fine now, Padmé, really—"

"No," she interrupted. She frowned. "You're not. Something's wrong. I can tell." She broke off and looked around, spotting Obi-Wan and Kyp –

There was no Jaina.

Padmé swallowed hard. _No…_ She let go of Anakin and glanced around the docking bay for any sign of her granddaughter. She didn't find any.

_It can't be!_

"Anakin…" she said slowly. "Where is Jaina?"

Anakin made an undistinguishable sound.

Padmé glanced at Kyp and pressed a hand to her mouth. From his expression, she knew that there were only two possibilities. One – Jaina had been captured. Or two… she had been killed. Swallowing hard, she turned to Obi-Wan just as Bail and Yoda came down the ramp.

"Obi-Wan, where's Jaina?"

The look in his eyes was enough to tell her the answer. Padmé gasped and shuddered, clutching Anakin's hand.

"They followed us to Dagobah," Obi-Wan began. "Our guard was down; we were surrounded by the enemy. She threw herself in front of Anakin and… took a blaster shot to the chest."

"What?" Bail demanded. "She's… You can't mean to say that she's dead!"

Obi-Wan shook his head solemnly. "She… is."

Yoda sadly lowered his head. "Tragic news, this is."

Padmé let go of Anakin. "But you can't have just left her there!" she cried, her voice strangled.

"Padmé, they were forcing us away from her, there was nothing we could have done—"

"But why her?" Padmé shouted. "Why _her?!"_ Her hands clenched into fists and she was aware of a stinging in her eyes – tears that were yet to fall. Her voice caught in her throat. There were so many things she wanted to say right then and there, but the horror of the situation was sinking in. Finally letting her tears go, she turned and buried her face in Anakin's shoulder, her hand gripping his tightly.

It was with great effort that they finally got back on board. Padmé wanted to refuse what she was hearing. She had just discovered that the Jedi was her granddaughter. Her heart told her that Jaina could not possibly be dead. She could not believe it, even though the evidence was staring her in the face. She had never doubted Obi-Wan's words before, but now… part of her did, even though her mind rationalized that she was wrong to do so.

Padmé was not sure where they were headed next, but she knew it was somewhere more secluded than Seswenna. Once they were back on board, she persuaded a stony Anakin to wash off the mud and blood from the battle and find a clean set of clothes. When he was gone, Padmé returned to her room, where she had left the twins napping.

Luke and Leia were both awake when she returned. Looking down at them, she caught their eyes – one set bright blue, the other a deep brown – staring up at her sadly. Leia waved a small hand at her and she gently picked the baby up.

"I'm so sorry, little ones," Padmé murmured. "I'm sorry. She's gone."

Leia's brown eyes intensified as she said that. Padmé frowned and shook her head. "Don't look at me like that, Leia," she said.

Leia waved a hand, her fingers catching hold of a loose lock of Padmé's hair. The infant was trying to tell her something, but Padmé wasn't sure what it was. She glanced at Luke, who was calmly observing the situation.

"What is it?" she asked softly. Irrational hope was blooming in her heart. The twins had a deep connection with Jaina. If she had died, wouldn't they have felt it? They would have shown her in some way the grief that the rest of them felt.

Leia waved a hand again, this time brushing her face. When her soft fingers came in contact with Padmé's cheek, an image flashed through Padmé's mind – the first one was of Jaina, the second, strangely, of Kyp. Padmé frowned and looked down at her daughter.

"Kyp?" she asked.

Leia wiggled her fingers.

Pursing her lips, Padmé set her daughter down in the cradle. "If you think so," she said, making up her mind. If there was one person who needed her now, it was Kyp. He had shared a connection with Jaina like no one else in the Galaxy. He had traveled with her through time to help her in any way he could. If there was one person on this ship who needed Padmé now, it was Kyp.

Leaving the twins in their cradles, Padmé set off in search of the Jedi. Walking briskly through the extensive halls of the _Tantive IV,_ she eventually found him wandering the white corridors as if lost. Though he had cleaned up, his grim expression was even more prominent when Padmé finally walked up beside him.

"Kyp," she said softly.

He stopped walking and glanced at her. "I don't need to hear that you're sorry, Padmé." He continued on.

Pursing her lips, Padmé quickly followed him and touched his arm as she stepped in front of him. "Wait."

He shot her a dark, pained look and attempted to move past her. She stopped him.

"Please?"

He sighed. "Say what it is that you want to say and then go," he told her coldly.

"I cannot begin to imagine what it is like to lose one you love," she started. Something akin to a growl escaped him and he tried to brush past her, but she caught his wrist and stared up at him. The pain evident in his green eyes was overwhelming. Padmé swallowed hard and continued. "But I cannot believe for one second that she is lost for good. She is my granddaughter and if she was truly dead, I would know."

Whatever it was Kyp was going to say in response, Padmé never heard it. He stumbled backwards, shock spread across his face. "What did you say?"

Padmé folded her hands together. "I know, Kyp," she said. "I know the truth."

He stared at her. "Have you told—?"

"I haven't told Anakin," she said. "Yet." She paused, biting her lower lip. "I'm not sure what to do yet. I feel that I have to tell him, but I'm not sure what the knowledge would do. He doesn't deal with… shocks very well. I wanted to discuss it with Jaina first but—" She cut herself off abruptly and glanced at him, concerned.

Finally, after a long pause, he spoke.

"How?"

"On Alderaan," Padmé explained quietly, "when she took off like that and I followed, she told me that the twins were in danger. And then she was no longer in pain after we rescued the children. If it didn't seem so… unnatural, I should have figured it out earlier. Once you know the truth, all the evidence is there." She smiled faintly. "All I really needed to do was look in a mirror."

"Padmé, I saw her die." The words were hollow.

The trace of the smile faded. "She can't be dead."

"She was shot twice and then part of a speeder collapsed on her." He looked away. "I couldn't get to her in time. We were forced backwards and we had to leave her there."

"I'm not going to accept that she's dead until I have proof, Kyp." The words came fast and hard, determination weighing with each one.

"You weren't there. You didn't see."

"How can you be so accepting of it?" Padmé's voice sounded like a hiss to her own ears. She seized his arm and turned him so he faced her. Her eyes bored into his as she sought the truth. "You loved her – how can you believe that she is gone, just like that?"

"Damn it, Padmé!" he shouted, ripping his arm from her grip. "I didn't… I… damn it. She was all I had left of the world I left behind, one that will only exist in _my_ memory now that she is gone. If there was anything I could have done, I would have done it. She tore out part of me when she died – I can feel it. You can continue your little daydream, but one day reality will catch up with you and you'll realize that you've been playing the fool. I've lost friends and family before. The Empire destroyed my life. I still have a mission to fulfill and I _will_ take them down, no matter what the cost. You can sit here and wait while doing nothing, or you can accept the truth and do something with it." He paused for breath. "I don't need your comfort."

He stalked by her and continued down the hall, leaving her in stunned silence.

_If only you would believe me,_ she thought, _you wouldn't be hurting in this way._

She wasn't sure what else she could do. In her heart, the hope that Jaina was still somehow alive was spreading. But somehow, she knew the others wouldn't believe her – on the account that she hadn't seen what they had seen.

"He must be awfully mad," a little voice said.

"Hush, Ri," a girl's voice scolded softly.

Padmé turned and saw Scout standing there with Nautolan youngling gripping her hand. She brushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes and smiled tightly at the Jedi Padawan. Scout's expression was tense and solemn.

"I heard what happened," she said. "It's awful, isn't it?"

_But just how much of the conversation did she hear?_ Padmé wondered.

"Yes," she agreed softly.

"I miss her," Scout continued sadly. "Poor Master Durron…" She shivered. "They were partners for a very long time, weren't they, Senator?"

"I think so, Scout," Padmé murmured.

"Is that why he's so mad?" Ri asked cautiously.

Padmé smiled tightly. She dropped to one knee so she could look the child in the face. The Nautolan's dark eyes were large and sad-looking.

"No, child," Padmé told him gently. "He's not mad. Something very terrible has happened and he is having a hard time dealing with it."

The youngling frowned, looking confused. "I don't understand. He sounded mad. Isn't being mad bad?"

_The Jedi were always too frightened of what their emotions could do to them,_ Padmé thought. She sighed. "No," she said. "Mad isn't always bad. Sometimes when people are very sad, it sounds like they're mad." She couldn't help but remember the moment on Tatooine when Anakin had lost his mother. Swallowing hard, she stood up, and looked at Scout. "How about you take him back now. I have several things to attend to."

Scout smiled at her. "Sure. Ri just wanted to go for a walk. Whie's with the others, but I think I ought to check in on him – not sure how well he's doing. Come on, Ri."

Taking the youngling by the hand, Scout turned and walked back down the corridor. Padmé watched them go then hurried off in direction of the stateroom. She would need to talk to Yoda, who was no doubt in conversation with Bail and Obi-Wan.

Anakin needed to know the truth soon. But he, too, believed Jaina to be dead, just like Obi-Wan and Kyp… what would he do when he discovered that he had supposedly lost a future family member?

Padmé was trying to sort out the tangled details of telling her husband the truth when she arrived at the stateroom. Much to her surprise, they were in the midst of receiving a transmission from the HoloNet. Padmé entered the room, staring in horror at the screen.

Images from several planets were being broadcasted. First, she recognized Alderaan's delicate architecture rising in flames and smoke as an army of Imperial starfighters descended on its cities. This was followed by an aerial shot of a burning Hanna City on Chandrila.

_Mon…_ she thought. _What's happening? Has the Galaxy gone mad?_

"Bail," she said aloud, hurrying over to where he, Obi-Wan and Yoda were seated, watching the broadcast. "What's going on?"

Her friend's face was like stone. He didn't answer.

"The Empire has completely overrun those planets it believes are threats to its dominion," Obi-Wan said grimly. "It has captured the Senators of the offending planets and sectors, placing them in a political prison. His armies run amock on those planets that are trying to resist – Alderaan and Chandrila included. The Senex and Sern sectors have also fallen."

Padmé opened her mouth in shock. "How… how can he _do_ this?" she cried. "How can he get away with murdering countless numbers of innocent people?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "He's the Emperor, Padmé. He does as he sees fit – anything to protect his dominion. Evidently he felt some of your friends were too much of a threat, even though I have no doubt that they were as secretive as they could with their actions. Mon Mothma, Terr Taneel and Fang Zar have all been taken prisoner, among several others." He hesitated. "There was an announcement earlier. The Royal House of Alderaan will be dissolved and the system will now be governed by a Grand Moff. We have yet to hear, but I would guess that a similar fate waits for the other systems."

Padmé sat down, unable to look at the horrible images on the screen. "How did he find out?" she breathed.

"Know, perhaps we will not," Yoda said. "A precaution on Sidious' part, perhaps this disaster is."

"He has also proclaimed this as a warning to anyone who dares to defy the Empire," Obi-Wan added.

Padmé swallowed hard. "And… what of Naboo?"

"Safe, as far as we know," Obi-Wan answered. "I believe he realizes what damage it would do to his credibility if he destroyed his own homeworld, even though you are its rightful Senator."

_So my parents and Sola and her family are safe… for the time being._ That, at least, was a comfort. Padmé looked up and caught sight of Bail. He hadn't said a word and his face was very pale. Padmé swallowed hard and stood up.

"Bail," she said softly, "speak to me. Please."

"He's destroyed my planet, Padmé," Bail said coldly. "He's taken my wife and made her into a fool with that circus of a trial they are giving her." He nodded at the screen. "She's on Coruscant, Padmé," he continued helplessly. "They've got her locked away for helping us and are parading her trial all across the HoloNet. There's no fairness to it at all – it'll end in an execution for certain, but they are trying their hardest to milk it for all its worth."

Padmé pressed a hand to her mouth and she hugged her old friend. "Bail," she breathed, "I am so sorry."

He drew away. There was an angry glint in his eye. "It's not you who needs to be sorry, Padmé. You're not responsible."

Padmé looked away. Whatever attempts Mon Mothma and the other Senators who opposed Palpatine had made to get an underground rebel movement formed were now ruined. All that remained of any form of resistance was a ship filled with fugitives running from the Empire.

How long would they last before the Empire tracked them down? How would they be able to oppose Palpatine when they had no friends or allies?

It had never appeared bleaker than this before. The Empire was striking down their hopes one by one.

It was with a heavy heart that Padmé returned to her rooms in search of Anakin. When she found him, his hair still wet from his shower, he took one look at her face and wrapped her in an embrace.

"What happened?" he asked.

Slowly, she managed to choke out the developments while furiously trying to keep the tears from her eyes as she remembered the views of Alderaan and Chandrila's cities burning. Anakin listened and held her tight.

"Padmé, I'm sorry." The words were hollow. Jaina's death still weighed heavily on his mind.

"He's taking control of everything."

"I know."

"How did this happen?"

Anakin locked eyes with her. His expression was unreadable. "I don't know."

* * *

Padmé's words would not leave him alone. Again and again, he heard the hope that had been in her voice when she had spoken to him. Locked in his grief, he had not concentrated on what she had said at the time, but now he could not ignore it.

Padmé knew the truth. She knew that Jaina was her granddaughter.

She had a point that she would know if Jaina was dead. The _twins_ – who were so intricately connected to Jaina – would know.

So far, there seemed to be no evidence on their part that Jaina was dead.

Yet he knew what he had seen. He had seen her get shot; he had seen the blood from her wound. He had seen the heavy metal from the speeder come crashing down on her. It seemed impossible for her to survive.

But Padmé had hope.

_Padmé didn't see it,_ he growled at himself.

Padmé had hope. An inevitably, so did he. Part of him had rejected the idea that Jaina had died when he first saw her get shot. In the long hours afterwards, he had continually denied it until grief and reality sank in.

What if reality was wrong?

He needed to speak to Padmé immediately.

He hurried down the corridors to her room – it was the best place to look first. Unable to find her there, it took him several frantic minutes until he came across her and Anakin in one of the common rooms near the stateroom. They were sitting on a couch, Padmé holding Leia while Anakin held Luke. Obi-Wan, Yoda and Bail were also present. There was a solemn atmosphere about the room when he entered.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Alderaan has fallen," Obi-Wan said grimly. "As has Chandrila and many other planets and sectors whose Senators secretly opposed Palpatine."

"Overrun by the Empire, they have become," Yoda added. "Dark, these times are."

"What?" Kyp stared from Obi-Wan to Yoda and back again before finally looking at Padmé and Bail for confirmation. He only needed one look at Bail's expression to know the truth. "Why?!"

"Fear us, Palpatine does," Yoda said. "Threats to his dominion, these friends of the Senators were. Removed the threat, he did."

"But _attacking_ entire planets?" Kyp demanded.

"You should not be surprised, Kyp," Obi-Wan said. "You know the Emperor better than we do."

Kyp paused. "No. Maybe I don't. He's moving too quickly. There's something different about this."

"What's different?" Padmé demanded. "Is he not behaving the way he did in your past? I don't fully understand what you mean by—" She stopped speaking abruptly. Leia had suddenly begun to cry. Gently rubbing the baby's back, Padmé held her daughter close, murmuring comforting words. Apparently, they did not have the effect she wanted as Leia only began to cry harder. Soon, Luke joined in, too. Anakin shot a confused look at his wife, but she had no response for him.

"What's wrong?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I'm not sure," Padmé replied. "Hush, Leia, it's all right—"

_KYP!_

His name blasted into his own mind with enough force to shake him – to make matters worse, it was accompanied by a jolt of pain. Wincing, he pressed a hand to his forehead, his eyes squeezed shut.

He could not help but shake as he recognized the voice that had screamed in his mind. There was no doubt about it – it was Jaina's voice.

Hope, confusion and horror filled with him tangled emotions all at once. Jaina had to be alive, but there was an undeniable note of pain and terror in her mind as it threw her thought at his. Her fear was tangible in the Force and he knew, at once, that she was in the enemy's hands.

"Kyp?"

"What is it?"

"What's wrong?"

The voices of his companions chorused around him. He opened his eyes, wincing at the pain in his head, and looked at him. "It's Jaina," he said. "She's alive."

"What?" Anakin's voice was strangled.

Obi-Wan eyes widened. "How?" he breathed.

"I don't know," Kyp answered. "All I know is that she's alive and she's captured by the Empire."

"How can you know that?" Anakin demanded.

Kyp shot him an irritated look. "I just do."

"But we all saw what happened! How is it possible that she's still alive? Are you sure you're not imagining things?"

"YES!" Kyp clenched his fists. "Yes, Anakin, I'm sure because I know when someone's trying to contact me telepathically. I recognized her mind. She's alive."

Anakin's expression hardened. He seemed oblivious to the fact that Luke was wailing in his arms.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan began, but Anakin cut across him.

"You're in denial, Kyp! We saw her get shot. We tried to do all we could, but we couldn't save her!"

"Stop trying to contradict the truth, Anakin," Kyp snapped. "You're oblivious to what's been going on around you. You of all people should sense that she's alive if she's trying to contact us with her mind. For Force's sake, she's your granddaughter!"

Anakin froze. His face paled. "Excuse me?" he said, his voice low.

Kyp sat down and passed a hand across his face. There was no going back now. He glanced at Bail, whose grim expression had faded into shock. Obi-Wan's eyes had narrowed, but he didn't look at all surprised. Yoda was as impassive as ever. Kyp looked over at Padmé, who smiled tightly. Anakin noticed the exchange and his eyes narrowed.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Ani," Padmé said softly, placing a hand on his as she cradled Leia, "look at our children."

He did. They were still crying, but more softly now. He frowned and looked back at Padmé.

"They have a connection with Jaina," she said. "I found out on Alderaan. Jaina is the daughter of one of them. She's out of her time, but they can sense her nonetheless – there's a very strong bond between them. You were there; you saw what she was like when Luke and Leia were in danger."

Anakin's expression was unreadable.

"She looks like me, she acts like you," Padmé continued softly. "You must have noticed it. It unsettled you, I could tell. Now you know the reason."

Anakin was staring at his feet. Absentmindedly, he patted Luke on the back. "Which one?" he asked bluntly, not looking at anyone.

Leia's small hand reached over and grabbed hold of Anakin's hair, giving it a sharp tug.

"Ow!" He stared at his daughter. "Don't do that." He paused and shot a look at Kyp. "Leia?"

Kyp nodded.

Padmé's eyes widened. "But she said that her mother was Alderaanian!" she gasped.

"So you didn't know then, did you?" Anakin said.

Padmé ignored him and looked questioningly at Kyp.

Kyp sighed and shrugged. "Leia lived on Alderaan for a time – with Bail." He glanced in the Senator's direction. There was an uncomfortable look on the Senator's face. "Are you all right?"

Bail paused and nodded. "This… is extraordinary, but incredibly difficult to take in." He sighed. "Perhaps I must resign myself to the fact that I will never understand the ways of the Force."

"A mystery to us all, it does remain," Yoda answered.

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "Granddaughter, then, eh?" He chuckled mildly, though it was still a hollow sound. The weight of Jaina's situation was clearly playing heavily on his mind. "Why am I not surprised at all by this revelation?"

"I'm surprised that none of us noticed it as soon as it was revealed that she is a time traveler," Padmé said quietly.

"I've been blind," Anakin muttered. His tone was harsh. "I should have seen it." He looked up and glanced around at the faces of his companions. Hard determination was etched into his expression. "We're getting her out from wherever the hell she is."


	43. Into Hell

**CHAPTER XLIII**

**Into Hell**

"_Blood pressure steady…"_

"_Patient is stabilized…"_

"_Nurse, scalpel if you will…"_

Jaina's hearing came back first as the grogginess in her mind slowly lifted. She was aware of the sounds of people moving around her, the whirring of machines and the bleeping of droids. She could hear the texture of human voices juxtaposed on top of the blend of mechanical noises, though she could not make sense of the words.

Slowly, her other senses awoke. There was a numbness and a dull pain growing in her chest on the right side of her body. The more she became aware of it, the more painful it became. Soon after, she noticed a strange numbness in her right arm, forming around her elbow. The tips of her toes and fingers tingled. Her throat was dry and her stomach empty; she felt as though she had just vomited. There was a foul taste in her mouth and something heavy and cold was pressing into her, but she couldn't figure out what it was – or which areas of her body it was touching.

Suddenly, the tang of liquids kept in medical kits, medcentres and the like in her nose threw her into sharp reality. Jaina's eyes flew open, but did not register well to the light. Blurred shapes and a mess of colours attacked her sight. She sensed that her mouth was open, but she did not remember opening it. A scream penetrated her ears, hurting her head. Around her, the human voices screeched indiscernible orders and calls at each other. She saw the distorted, hazy shapes moving around her. As she stared up at them, a long needle glinting in the harsh light and a syringe filled with a strange, yellow liquid.

She felt her body shaking from head to toe. A second scream pierced her ears as a white burst of pain erupted all over her. Blackness crashed around her.

As her consciousness fell into darkness, she thought she could make out two distinct voices, ones she thought she would never hear again. Her mother and Uncle Luke.

"_Hold on, Jaina! Hold on…"_

* * *

When Jaina woke for a second time, she was in complete darkness. Her throat still dry, she felt nauseated and she had a blinding headache. The pounding pain in her head was ceaseless. She winced, squeezing her eyes shut (though it made no difference), and placed a hand on her forehead. She vaguely remembered that there was something she could do to help the headache… she just couldn't remember what.

Gradually, Jaina became aware that she was lying curled up on her side on something extremely hard. It felt like duracrete. Opening her eyes again, she stared blankly into the darkness. Her mind focused on two names that were circling her thoughts.

"Mom…? Uncle Luke…?"

Her voice was dry and raspy, barely making a sound. She desperately needed water. Slowly, Jaina inched herself into an upright position. Being vertical only increased the headache. She groaned and pressed a hand to her forehead. The movement felt odd; there was an ache in her left forearm. However, it was nothing compared to what she felt in her other arm. A numbness had built up around her elbow. She tried to flex her fingers, but she couldn't feel her hand. Something wasn't right… She sat still for a moment, trying to figure out what was wrong, but the only result was a persistent headache.

She wasn't sure how much time passed as she sat in the dark, uncertain of where she was or how she had gotten there. She tried to remember, but the memories were dark and foggy. A swamp… a flash of light… an explosion of pain.

Suddenly, she doubled over as her senses overloaded on the pain in the right side of her chest. Her breathing coming in sharp gasps, she gently prodded the tender skin with her fingers, wincing at the sharp sting that occurred every time her fingers came into contact with her skin.

Then everything came tumbling back to her. Dagobah, the cave, the assault by the Empire's forces, pushing Anakin out of the way of a potentially fatal blaster bolt and taking the blast herself… Jaina shook her head as if to clear her head. It abruptly threw her back into reality.

_How did I survive?_

She remembered the first bolt that had caught her. It hadn't been a blaster shot as she had expected – instead, it was a stun bolt powerful enough to knock her over. She distinctly remembered being thrown into something solid and heavy before a blaster shot had struck her in the chest. That was when she had lost consciousness.

And now she did not know where she was.

Tentatively, she hoarsely called out the names of her companions.

"Kyp…? Obi-Wan…? Anakin…?"

They did not answer.

_Think, Jaina!_ It was hard to think. Her mind was groggy and she felt exhausted. Her muscles ached and she felt almost feverish. Slowly, she rose to her feet, her body protesting. She stumbled forwards, landing on her knees – hard. She winced as the pain jolted through her legs. Gritting her teeth, she tried again, this time almost managing to keep her balance. She fell sideways – into a wall.

Instead of duracrete, she felt the hard, cold smoothness of durasteel against the skin of her bare shoulder. She placed her left hand against the side of the wall and shuddered at the cold metal beneath her fingertips. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself and gently touched her fingers to the fingers of her right hand.

Her heart jumped and her hand flew back.

She clenched her right hand's fingers and heard the sound of grinding mechanics she had associated with Anakin and her uncle. She tried it again – and listened to the gears of a mechanical hand as the deadweight of her realization slammed into her.

She had lost her forearm.

Jaina shuddered and suddenly felt sick. Urging herself not to fall over, she backed into the cold, hard wall and closed her eyes. She remembered being shot in the arm during the fight, but she could not remember how severe the injury had been. Surely it hadn't constituted amputation…

She slid down the wall and sat on the floor, pulling her knees in. Greasy locks of hair fell in her face; she brushed them back, shuddering at the touch of her new, mechanical arm against her cheek. Sitting in silence, she pressed her forehead to her knees, trying several breathing exercises to calm her down. When it did not work, she slowly rose to her feet and leaned into the wall. Perhaps if she walked somewhere, it would help.

Jaina limped forwards, letting her non-mechanical fingers drift across the wall until she came to a corner. Turning abruptly to the right, she followed the next wall until she came to another corner. She turned again and felt her way along until she paused, uncertain of the indents she was feeling. Frowning, she glanced at it but could not peer through the darkness. Tracing the indents lightly with her fingers, she soon discovered that it was the outline of a door.

There was no way for her to activate it from this side.

She was in a cell.

Jaina was not surprised, but she still felt the need to scream her frustration. Her hoarse voice did not make much noise and her efforts felt hollow in her ears. Unsatisfied with the results yet feeling pain in her parched throat, Jaina continued to discover the parameters of her cell.

Mid-way down the door, there was a second set of indents, probably for giving her food and water. Pursing her lips, she followed the wall until she came to another corner and turned and traced her fingers along that one as well.

Several minutes later, Jaina had made another round of the cell and outlined her boundaries in paces. The cell was square, with each side being roughly three and a half paces long. There was nothing for her to lie on except the cold, hard floor and there was hole in the corner farthest away from the door that she guessed was to be used for bathroom purposes.

Jaina sighed and lay down in the centre of the cell, staring into the darkness. She could not see the purpose of keeping her in here without a light of some kind, but perhaps the designer of this prison block had found some sick humour in playing in on the childish fear of being scared of the dark.

Out of habit, her hand drifted towards where she kept her lightsaber, but all she came into contact with was her belt. It was empty – no blasters, no lightsaber. Of course it would be, but she felt compelled to check.

She forced herself to calm down her breathing and take slow, deep breaths. As she did so, she concentrated on sinking into the Force. If there was nothing else to do, she would meditate to keep herself from going insane.

She froze. She felt as if the bottom of her stomach had dropped out.

Her heart thundering, her mind searched in every way possible, but she could not sense it. The Force was gone – just as if there were ysalamiri right outside her cell door.

_That kriffing son of a Hutt!_

This was no doubt Palpatine's doing. Why hadn't she noticed it before? Surely she would have felt the difference the moment she woke up, but she hadn't. Her connection with the Force was severed, leaving her empty, cut off from everything.

Palpatine was cunning. No doubt, he wanted her alive but he did not want to run the risk of having her escape. He had cut her off from all of her tools except her own mind and had put her in the dark – she did not want to know the purpose of it. Just as she did not know the purpose of fitting her with a mechanical arm. Biting her lip, she curled up into a ball and tried to sink into some calmness created by her own mind, Force or no Force.

She wasn't sure how long it had been since her dreadful realization when she heard a strange sound – that of metal grating upon metal. Sitting up, Jaina listened for the direction it was coming off and then crawled towards it. The source was a small hole at the bottom of one of the walls perpendicular to the wall with the door.

Someone from the other side of the wall was trying to pull something in the hole through to their side. Jaina could hear the breath of whoever it was as he or she worked. Reaching out, she hesitantly reached into the hole. Her fingers brushed the metal spikes of what felt like a grate and then the soft skin of the person on the other side. She drew back rapidly as she heard the other person gasp.

"I didn't realize you had woken up." It was a male voice. Human.

"I didn't realize I would have company," Jaina answered hoarsely. "What are you doing?"

The man laughed harshly. "A project I've been working on for some time to keep me from going mad in this _pit."_ He spat out the last word. "I found the grate and decided to see if I could shift it. It wasn't until this morning – or, what I imagine would be morning – that I realized that there would be someone on the other side. I hear the door of your cell open when you were brought in. You slept for a very long time – I imagine you've had a trip to what they call their medcentre. Kriffing place where mad scientists work on us as if they were lab animals."

A strange memory flashed through Jaina's mind – blurry figures moving around, the whirr of machines, the whisper of human voices and the flash of a syringe filled with yellow liquid… She shuddered.

"What… were they doing to me?"

"Ah." He chuckled madly for a moment. "Can't say for sure. Best of luck in your recovery. Various nasty side-effects of whatever it is they've given you last for weeks. You're lucky that you can even talk, it took me what I'm sure was at least four standard days to regain my voice." There was a clang as the grate came free. "There. One project done. Now I'll have to find another."

Jaina dimly heard a clatter from somewhere inside his cell – she figured that he had thrown the grate across the small enclosed space. She ran her fingers through her loose hair. Each lock was greasy and grimy. She felt as though she hadn't had a proper wash in days. Disgusted, she attempted to braid her hair to keep it out of her face, but it did not work well with only one hand and her arm soon grew tired. Her muscles were still protesting any movement she made.

"You know," her companion on the other side of the wall said, "it must be nice to believe that you will be rescued."

"What?"

He laughed shortly. "I heard you calling out in your sleep. You mentioned your mother – and your uncle. It changed later. New names. Someone named Kyp. And then General Kenobi and Knight Skywalker." He grunted. "If you were with them, are you a Jedi? Or were you an innocent bystander who happened to get in the Empire's way?"

"I… I'm a Jedi."

"You're very lucky to remember your mother – and your uncle. That makes two of us. Most of the Jedi I knew did not remember their families."

"Oh." Jaina did not have much else to say. At the mention of families, she couldn't help but think of her own. Her struggle to save them had landed her in this prison – one which she did not know if she would ever escape from.

"Where…" She swallowed, wishing that she had water. "Where am I?"

"Kuduran." The man growled and there was another clatter from inside his cell. "A secret prison world built especially for the highest profile enemies of the Empire, though it was built before the fall of the Republic. You're a prisoner, like myself. A threat to Palpatine's reign. I've been here for four months – as far as I can tell. It's difficult to tell time when you're constantly in the dark. I've spent precious few minutes in artificial light, let alone daylight."

_Kuduran._ The name sent chills down her spine. Jaina had never heard its name before; it puzzled her. By her time, surely they would have discovered most of the Imperial prisons, especially ones that kept high profile prisoners.

"H…how do you know so much?"

The man laughed harshly. "I knew about this place long before I was imprisoned here. I knew of Palpatine's wrongdoings. I always suspected him. That was why I was imprisoned. Kuduran was built to hold Palpatine's worst enemies, judging from the ysalamiri he's placed all over the compound."

"So I was right about that," Jaina murmured.

"What else could it be? He wants us in the lowest possible frame of mind. What he plans on doing with us, only the Force knows."

Her companion fell silent. Jaina bit her lower lip. What _did_ Palpatine have in mind for her? If she was such trouble, why not kill her? Why have this place at all when it would be simpler just to kill the Jedi if he wanted to get rid of them?

She was about to ask the man her question when suddenly the door to her cell retracted, flooding the room with bright light. Jaina blinked and fell back, shielding her eyes from the glare with the palm of her hand. She saw two soldiers march in – both human, both dressed in black, nondescript military uniforms.

"Up!" the first one barked at her.

She growled at him, but she was seized by the arms and dragged to her feet.

"Let me GO!"

She struggled, fighting tooth and nail though her muscles protested. The two soldiers shouted something at the other men standing outside her cell. One came forwards, bearing a syringe. Jaina saw it and shouted hoarsely at the top of her lungs as she tried to back away from it. In her weakened state, she could not fight back. She felt the needle pierce into her skin and suddenly her body went limp and she plunged into darkness.

* * *

The third time Jaina woke, it took her a moment to reorganize her senses. Her eyes slowly opened and all she could see was what looked like a wavering, transparent blue sheet. She was suspended in a force field. Jaina found that she had control over her body, but struggle though she might, there was nothing she could do about her current situation. The force field kept her in and she still could not feel the Force in order to release her temporary prison.

She was in a large chamber with one sole light gleaming softly down at her. There were shadows everywhere except around the force field. Everything was monochromatic shades of black, silver or white – Imperial colours. The only variation in decoration were the red designs on the chair several feet away from the force field. As she looked around, she could just make out the outline of the door on the far side.

She caught sight of the torn sleeve of her right arm. The material was ripped off at the elbow, where her arm ended in a stump. She shuddered as she saw the prosthetic forearm attached to it. Her new metallic fingers clenched and she looked away, fighting the sickness that was growing in her parched throat.

"And she wakes," a soft voice said.

Jaina turned her head to see Palpatine approach her out of the shadows. He was dressed in long, elaborate black robes, his lightsaber displayed clearly at his belt. He regarded her with a lofty expression as he sat down in the chair provided for him.

"And so he finally shows himself," Jaina growled. "Coward."

Palpatine raised an eyebrow. "Oh? It is a pleasure to know what a high opinion you hold of me, Jaina Solo."

"Why didn't you come fight us yourself instead of sending your idiotic _stormtroopers_ to do the deed?" she snarled.

Palpatine looked at her politely. "Stormtroopers?" he inquired.

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Since you know so much about the future, you can probably answer that question yourself," she bit out.

Palpatine folded his hands as calmly as if they were about to sit down for an interview. "I have not heard the term 'stormtrooper' before in my travels. Where did you acquire it?"

"Oh, don't play games with me," Jaina retorted. "You know full well where it comes from."

"Ah…" He leaned back in his chair. "A name from the future for my army. I quite like it."

"I said, stop playing games!" Jaina snarled. Her voice crackled in her throat; she was amazed that it was still functioning, considering how dry it was.

Palpatine raised an eyebrow. "And what games would that be?"

Jaina hissed under her breath.

"Many have found that I am a particularly talented Dejarik player," Palpatine continued, his tone falsely pleasant. "Some have even gone so far as to call me a Grand Master of the game."

Jaina decided not to respond to that. She clenched her fists again, hearing the grinding of mechanical gears from her replacement arm. Her stomach twisted into an uncomfortable knot.

"Why have you given me a mechanical arm?" she demanded hoarsely, staring unblinkingly at Palpatine.

He eyed her replace appendage for a moment and then the smallest of smirks crossed his face. "You may call it a gift, if you wish," he said.

"A _gift?"_ she snarled.

"Your own arm was damaged beyond repair," Palpatine told her. He shrugged. "I am told that a wide variety of… ah… _illnesses_ would have overcome you if it had not been removed – on top of the unbearable pain a maimed arm would have caused you."

Jaina's eyes narrowed. "You need me alive, then. Alive and well enough to be sure that I won't go dying on you. Why?"

He merely looked back passively at her.

"_Why?!"_

"I believe that is confidential information, Jaina," he replied, his eyes gleaming darkly.

Jaina's nostrils flared. "Let me go," she hissed.

Palpatine smiled silkily at her. "Certainly," he said, his tone agreeable, "if that is your desire. However, I believe you have overlooked the situation. Let me describe it to you. If this force field is to be released, you would find yourself in a very delicate situation. You see, this _particular_ force field tampers with the muscles and ligaments in the human body. A person may move about as freely as they desire while within the force field, but take it away before a certain amount of time—" his fingers lingered over the control panel built into the arm of his chair – "and you will find that his or her body is as limp and useless as a deboned fish. It takes at least twelve standard hours to recover from being suspended in this force field, by which time you would be locked back in your cell. I might add that you will not be able to move your prosthetic arm either, as the nerves linked to it will not be able to relay the signals necessary to move it. Escape is highly unlikely, Jedi Solo. I would encourage you not to try it. I hear that the experience of being released from the force field before the appropriate time is most… uncomfortable."

Jaina stared at him. She could not think of any force field that worked like that, not from this time period or her own.

"You're lying," she spat. "You can't possibly have technology like that!"

Palpatine merely smiled calmly at her. "Oh, but I can. It is my privilege. I designed it myself under the tutelage of the greatest scientists the Galaxy will ever see."

"And who the hell is—" Jaina stopped short. She blinked, then stared at him, horrified. _"Will_ ever see? The scientists are in the future?"

Palpatine merely looked at her, his expression impassive.

Jaina's mouth dropped open. "But you… you _can't!_ You can't go around introducing technology before it's even invented! Science and technology are two of the most fundamental pillars of all societies. You could damage the whole course of the Galaxy!"

Palpatine laughed. "Don't you see, it is my privilege, Jaina." His eyes hardened. "Mine and mine alone." He paused. "And as for changing the course of the Galaxy… well, you _would_ know all about that, now, wouldn't you?"

Jaina glared at him. Her thoughts were whirling as she worked to keep the fiery anger welling up in her contained. She would _not_ let her enemy see any weaknesses. Diminished though she was, she would fight him in any way she could.

"Where is this place?" she snapped. "We would have found it in the future."

Palpatine sighed. "Jaina, allow me to give you a basic instruction in the ways of time travel. The universe is constantly in flux, my dear. When you came back here to meddle in my plans, you _willingly_ destroyed your own world. Everything you knew from there is gone. Who is the say that the future cannot be different? The future is always in motion, Jaina. When you and your highly irritating friend Master Durron arrived in _my_ time, I realized that I had a problem that could potentially destroy everything I had ever worked towards. The simple solution would be to kill you directly, but the idea aggravated me. You and he are such _interesting_ Jedi, my dear. I did not want to kill you – at least, not yet. I needed something else. Something that would work better to my tastes. After all, if I wanted to kill you, I could always do it later. For now, I needed a prison in which to capture you."

Jaina's eyes narrowed. "So you used the mind prisons."

"My dear, I used _a_ time prison. I put Durron someplace where I would be able to find him if I needed him again – a plan that would have worked if that brat of a boy had not spoiled it by simply entering the room and giving Durron the power he needed to break down the walls."

"Wait a second," Jaina interrupted. A horrid feeling was growing in the pit of her stomach. "I was trapped in a mind prison, too. You said _a_ time prison. You didn't capture me?"

Palpatine scoffed at her. "My dear, are you sure you're thinking clearly? I never once touched your mind."

"But…" She faltered. "But I was trapped! Trapped inside my own mind!"

Palpatine's expression fell. He gave her a penetrating look. "What is the meaning of this?" he hissed.

Jaina swallowed hard. She was utterly confused. She _had_ been put in a mind trap, a time prison, whichever one it was called. But, apparently, it hadn't been Palpatine.

Then _who?_

Apparently, Palpatine wanted the same answer.

"I don't know," she finally said.

Palpatine leaned back in this chair. He was muttering something under his breath.

Jaina finally decided that she needed to speak. "If you were using mind prisons, then why build this place?"

"I was prepared for anything, girl," he answered, his voice low. He looked up at her, his eyes dangerous. "Anything could go wrong. I traveled into the future to learn from the scientist who taught me about this technology and I brought back a way of restraining you should I capture you. However, this force field takes much energy to generate it, and I would need another place to hold you. I decided that I would build a prison. Though it would ultimately revolve around restraining you and Kyp Durron, I could use it for many other purposes, hold many other captured Jedi."

"This place is _gigantic,"_ Jaina hissed. "It would be impossible to build in the time between when we arrived and now!"

Palpatine's eyes glittered and his chuckled. "That is easily solved. I went back to a time before I was born and set the plans in motion for this prison to be built at the right time – in the Hoth asteroid belt where no one would think to look for it. My past self never knew about its construction – I couldn't let myself, or the whole plan would fall to pieces. A delicate thing, time travel is. Very few people in the Senate knew of Kuduran – only those I could trust fully. Your friends will not know, so do not hold out on any rescue missions, Jaina Solo."

Jaina clenched her fists. "It's a downright violation of time."

Palpatine tutted. "Really, child, what really do you understand of the powers of time? I am the one doing the educating here."

"I know a great deal more than you could imagine," Jaina hissed.

Palpatine raised an eyebrow. "And tell me, how did you come by this knowledge?"

Jaina shut her mouth, biting her lower lip to keep her from speaking any further. She did not need to reveal the information surrounding the one who had sent her and Kyp here to stop him. Augustine's name best lay in secret.

Palpatine was still looking at her, his eyes quietly boring into hers. She blinked.

"Well?" he asked. "Will you tell me or not?"

Jaina refused to speak and merely stared back.

Palpatine waited a moment, then his hand slammed down on the control panel of his chair. An electric shock ran through Jaina's body. She cried out in pain, but it was gone as soon as it had come, leaving her breathless, the hair on her arms standing on end. She stared, wild-eyed, as Palpatine stood up and moved towards her. For the first time, a dark sneer had come across his expression, effectively destroying the image of a well-mannered old man he was so experienced at sustaining.

"You _will_ answer when questioned," he snarled. He was inches away from her now; the only thing that separated them was the energies of the force field. "It is lucky for you that I have already guessed the answer. It has long been in my mind that the only reason you could have ended up _here_ is that someone told you that this is the place where the course of the Galaxy is destined to be chosen. Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One of prophecy, is at his height of his power in this age. I have traveled often enough into the ever-changing future and I have studied your character long enough to make a few well-placed guesses, Jaina Solo."

"_And what are those?"_ Jaina hissed through gritted teeth, her eyes half-closed as she focused on trying to rid herself of the pain residing from the electric shock.

"You once told me that your mission here was to prevent Skywalker from joining me," Palpatine said, his voice low. "To keep him from falling to the Dark side. But there are other motives in your mission, Jaina Solo, and I can see those quite clearly. Skywalker was to be but a tool. A powerful tool, as the prophecies and the balance of the Force are entwined in his very being. It is my guess that he _was_ the tool I desired him to be in your past, but he turned away from me. I killed him for it and so you were left with an imbalance in the Galaxy – one that could never be corrected."

He paused. His eyes were alight with malice and anger – Jaina had never seen him look more frightening.

"Your duty here is to kill me," he continued softly. "That I can see, quite clearly. You were sent by a man who has as much reason to want me dead as you do. He uses a delightful pseudonym which is a mockery of my own name: Augustine."

Jaina froze.

"Ahh," Palpatine breathed. "So it is he. I have guessed correctly. I should have known better. He has been my bitter enemy for more years than you could possibly imagine. I defeated him once, long ago, but he continues to strike back like the wounded animal he is. I see that he does not come here to do the deed himself… I should have known better. He sent you here in order to bring me down in an attempt to fulfill the prophecy." His words were coming rapidly now, seething with anger and hatred. "But his attempt is thwarted. I have once again outmaneuvered him. Now that I have proof that it is _Augustine_ who attempts to defeat me, I can play this game without a blindfold. I know his strategies and I _will _overcome them." He paused and smiled at Jaina – it was one of those smiles that sent shivers up her spine. "Even now, as we speak, I have forces looking for those traitors you call _friends._ Anakin Skywalker will not be alive much longer. And once he is dead, the prophecy will have failed. I will be able to search for Augustine and kill him with my own hand."

Jaina could not move. Her breathing was shallow as she tried to sort out this information. Augustine, Augustine, Augustine… It seemed like a lifetime ago. Who was the man who had sent her into the past, who had convinced her and her family that it was the necessary thing to do? She knew nothing about him. Even his name, as she now learned, was a disguise.

She felt cold.

What if her mission had all been a deception, a way for the man called Augustine to meet his own ends? Had it all been a trick?

No, it couldn't have been. She was exhausted from the amount of stress being put on her. She could not trust Palpatine's word; he was trying to make her doubt her position here in the past. Augustine had sent them here to find a way to restore balance to the Force, to prevent Anakin's fall, to defeat Palpatine… It was what the Galaxy needed; it was what her family needed. It was what everyone needed.

Palpatine was trying to trick her into feeling otherwise.

She turned back to the Sith Lord. "And what will happen to me?" she asked coldly.

Palpatine's eyes glittered. "Oh… I will be very interested to see what will happen to _you_ after your dear grandfather dies," he said. "Unless… we can come to some sort of agreement. I may keep him alive as compensation for keeping _you._ Under full observation, of course. I can't allow the Chosen One to run amuck in the Galaxy. What do you think, my dear?"

Jaina glared at him. "We have no agreements!" she spat.

Palpatine shrugged lightly. "It is your choice, Jaina Solo," he said. "Either way… the world you knew is gone." He turned and walked across the room towards the exit. Before he left, he looked back over his shoulder at her. "You have much to think about. Good night."

The harsh lights of the corridor outside shone briefly in the room as the door slid open. Jaina watched the Sith Lord leave and was wondering whether he intended for her to stay suspended in the force field until she died when she saw several soldiers enter. As with before, they were human and dressed in black military uniforms – they were clearly not clone troopers. Four of them marched across the room to the force field, a black-haired woman in the lead. She stared coldly up at Jaina as she took her position by Palpatine's chair. The other three soldiers, all men, stood by the force field.

"Jaina Solo," the woman announced in a cold, commanding voice, "you are under the jurisdiction of the Empire. As a Jedi, you are a known traitor and fugitive, and will be dealt with as according to our laws. Upon your release from the force field, you will be taken to be processed, upon which you will be returned to your cell until further notice."

Jaina raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?" she snapped. "I've survived worse."

The woman did not flinch and she did not respond. She merely punched in the code for the release of the force field.

Jaina fell. Landing, splayed, on the floor, she found that all her energy had been taken from her. She was as good as paralyzed, her muscles refused to work. Cursing to herself, she guessed that she had been released from the force field "before the appropriate time." She gritted her teeth as the three soldiers unceremoniously heaved her to her feet and dragged her from the room.

Out in the corridor, she squinted her eyes to protect them from the glare of the harsh lights. The corridors were all grey and narrow. There were no windows. Jaina could not remember all the twists and turns of the passages as the black-haired woman lead the way down the hall, the three guards dragging their prisoner in her wake. As they passed other soldiers and medics in white uniforms, Jaina felt a flush creeping into her cheeks. It was humiliating enough to be captured, but it was even more so to be dragged by one's captors through their base because one lacked the capability of walking.

As she traveled through the corridors, Jaina's connection with the Force returned as she was evidently taken out of ysalamiri bounds. She momentarily wondered how Palpatine dealt with being disconnected from the Force before she took full advantage of the situation. She may be too weak to try to escape, but her mind was strong. Palpatine had said that no one knew of this prison.

She was going to make sure that someone did. For all she knew, her friends thought she was dead. She was going to give them evidence that she was not.

Jaina closed her eyes and concentrated her mind, feeling the Force within her. Kyp was far away, but she had to believe that she could reach him. She threw the thought into the Force, hoping, praying that he would receive it. The message was simple enough – she called his name.

_KYP!_

Jaina was interrupted when a door slid open and she was unceremoniously thrown into the room that lay beyond it. She hit the hard, cold ground and bit her tongue to keep from crying out. The room was made completely of dark grey duracrete – floor, ceiling and walls. There was only one light. Jaina barely had time to take a look at it to get her bearings before she was dragged up again and stripped of her clothing. Bruises began to form on her upper arms as she was roughly shoved into a grey prison uniform made of rough material. The pain in her chest swelled again as she was then taken to a seat and thrown down. Her mind concentrated on the Force as she tried to restore some of her strength, but it was not enough to act. She sat still, unable to move for lack of energy, as one by one her brown locks fell into her lap.

Determined not to show how much pain she was in, Jaina kept her face impassive through the entire procedure. Finally, the processing was complete. Newly dressed in her prison uniform, her head freshly shaved, she was dragged back down the corridors and back to her cell, where the power of the ysalamiri overcame her.

Only when the door retracted with a slam and she was left in the complete dark did Jaina finally give in to the tears of anguish and fury that had been threatening to overcome her. Severely weakened, she lay on the cold, hard floor, trying to ignore the irritation the material of the prison uniform was to her skin, tears falling thickly down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry for what they've done to you," a man's voice said.

Jaina stopped crying immediately. She had forgotten that she had a companion. She swallowed hard. "Thank… you."

"I never did get a chance to ask before. What's your name?"

"Jaina," she whispered back.

"That's a… pretty name, Jaina." He paused. "My name is A'Sharad Hett." Another pause. "I'm like you."

Jaina choked back a hollow laugh.

"No one can be like me."


	44. The Designs of a Rescue

**CHAPTER XLIV**

**The Designs of a Rescue**

The atmosphere onboard the _Tantive IV_ was very tense in the days following the revelation of Jaina's heritage and the truth behind the incident on Dagobah. Everyone onboard knew what had occurred to some degree, though Jaina's identity remained a secret from all but the Jedi, Bail and Padmé. To Kyp, it seemed as though the crew acted as though they were all holding their breaths for the Jedi to launch a rescue mission of some sort. This was hardly helpful at all, as it added even more tension that was already building in the Force. Eventually, it got to the point where Kyp could barely keep it from affecting his mood.

A grim determination had overcome him in the days since Jaina had thrown her thought at him. It had come with such raw power, edged with fear and anger, that any joy he could have felt at knowing that she was alive had been sucked dry. Jaina was imprisoned, and he did not even want to begin to imagine the various forms of torture Palpatine would use in an attempt to break her spirit. Kyp had no doubts about that – the only purpose of taking Jaina captive and keeping her alive would be to beat her within an inch of her life and attempt to destroy every aspect of her very being and force her to turn to the Dark side. With Jaina on his side, Palpatine would be nearly unstoppable, as every last one of them would be hesitant about fighting the turned Jaina.

They had to get her out of the prison before that could happen. Jaina was strong; she would never join the enemy willingly. She would fight to the end, but somewhere inside him, Kyp feared that she would eventually break. Even the strongest fighter could succumb to darkness.

However, there was a problem. None of them knew where Jaina was. Kyp had not seen her prison when she had contacted him. Anakin and Obi-Wan could only guess where she would be held, and yet none of their guesses made sense. Jaina was as high security a prisoner could get. But they had to start from somewhere if they would ever have a chance of rescuing her.

Anakin had been worked into a frenzy. He feverishly spent all hours of the day compiling lists from memory of every possible prison Jaina could be held at. He made notes on everything Palpatine had ever told him about the war and cross-referenced them with his prison list in an attempt to narrow down the possibilities. Prisons, detention centres, war camps… all were given the same treatment. Any time the _Tantive IV_ stopped on a planet to refuel and buy more supplies, Anakin would leave on a mission to gather as much information as he could from whatever databases were available to him. Obi-Wan and Kyp accompanied him several times on these side-trips, but Anakin did most of the work by himself. He did not want help, even though help was offered.

The revelation that Jaina was his granddaughter had changed him. After the initial shock, he became nearly as grim as Kyp was. Coldly working through his research, Anakin turned almost wraith-like from lack of sleep. No matter how many times any of them expressed concern for his well-being, Anakin would ignore them. He had his mind on one thing alone: Jaina's rescue.

The twins, particularly Leia, continued to be able to sense Jaina's presence but were unable to give them any hints as to where she was being imprisoned. Every day, the twins seemed to grow worse and Kyp and Anakin had simultaneous reactions: their fear and anxiety for Jaina grew. Padmé, beside herself with worry, soon began to accompany them on their trips to various databases on every planet they visited. Any ideas of the Empire following them had been nearly wiped out – they all had one concern: finding Jaina.

Slowly, Anakin's list began to shrink in size until finally they came upon one entry that seemed to be the most likely of places to hold Jaina prisoner. It was with cold determination that Anakin called Obi-Wan and Kyp to his rooms to discuss a potential plan.

"What did you find?" Kyp asked as soon as he sat down.

Anakin ran a hand through his hair. He was scowling.

"That isn't promising," Obi-Wan remarked bleakly.

"She's in Desolation Alley," Anakin said finally. "On Oovo IV."

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "Wasn't Aurra Sing once released from there?"

Anakin's eyes flashed. "Yes."

"How do you know that Jaina's in there?" Kyp asked. His voice was cold and monotone, a trait he had adopted since Jaina's apparent death. He knew of Oovo IV and Desolation Alley; the Yuuzhan Vong had once destroyed it. Something about Anakin's voice told him that he was certain that Jaina was incarcerated there, but Kyp had his doubts. Desolation Alley did not seem like the right place to hold a prisoner as important to the Empire as Jaina.

Anakin glanced at him coldly. "It's a maximum security prison," he began, "used by the Republic before…" His voice trailed off. He shook himself and continued. "Well, the Empire can't have had the time to build a place capable of containing Jaina. Desolation Alley is one of the most likely places that they would imprison her in. Besides," he looked up and locked eyes with Kyp, "I managed to slice into the records. The database tells me that there are three Jedi imprisoned there, and one of them was brought in a week ago. That Jedi is female."

Kyp could sense his heartbeat quickening. Perhaps his doubts were wrong. There was nothing for it – they would have to try. It was their only lead.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said, "how do you plan on getting in? Desolation Alley is almost impossible to enter."

Anakin's eyes flashed. "We'll find a way. I have a plan."

"What exactly makes Desolation Alley so difficult to get to?" Kyp asked.

Anakin stood and walked over to his desk. He punched in a code on the keypad and brought up a hologram that displayed the layout of the asteroid and the prison.

"Desolation Alley is, as I've said before, a maximum security prison," he said. "Energy shields protect the prison and keep the atmosphere in. Access is restricted, but I found entrance points here and here." He pointed with a finger, highlighting the sections on the hologram in red.

Obi-Wan folded his arms. "And how do you plan to get access?"

Anakin grinned for the first time in days. "The simplest plan of all," he said. "I'll just take our ship out of hyperspace far enough away from the asteroid that they won't notice us and first chance I get, I'll land the ship on a transport headed _inside_ the prison. They need supplies from time to time, I'm certain that there will be authorized transports coming in and out."

Kyp snorted. He was vaguely reminded of a rather well-known story of how Han had attached the _Millennium Falcon_ to the hull of a Star Destroyer when he and Leia were being chased by Imperial troops.

Anakin shot him a disapproving look. "What can possibly be so funny?" he asked sourly.

Kyp sighed. "Jaina's…" His voice faltered. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Jaina's father, Han, once pulled a similar trick to avoid getting caught by the Empire when his ship's hyperdrive wasn't functioning properly. He landed his ship on the side of a Star Destroyer."

A smile flickered briefly across Anakin's face. "Smart. I'd like to meet this guy some day."

"Perhaps I shouldn't mention that though he temporarily escaped, he and Leia were followed by a bounty hunter and were later caught."

"Oh." Anakin's face fell. "Well, that will not be happening to us, let me assure you."

Kyp nodded briefly. _I won't tell you that you were the one chasing them,_ he added silently to himself.

Anakin tapped in another code and closed the hologram. "There's one more thing," he said. "We need disguises. Especially you and me, Obi-Wan." He sighed. "We're possibly the two most recognized Jedi in the Galaxy right now. And a disguise wouldn't hurt for you, either, Kyp."

Kyp grunted.

"We'll need to stop somewhere before we leave," Obi-Wan said. "If we truly want disguises, then I doubt Alderaanian clothes will be fitting." He nodded pointedly at their borrowed clothing.

Anakin made a face. "Point taken. Perhaps I can find out what the uniforms of the maintenance workers look like and we can get something similar—"

"Or we could just dress nondescriptly and knock out three unsuspecting people," Kyp interrupted. "The guards are bound to be human. Either we'll run into stormtroopers again or specialized guards. With Palpatine's xenophobic tendencies, I very much doubt that one of his highest security prisons would be maintained by any other species than humans."

Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan and shrugged. "Sounds fine by me."

Obi-Wan's faced had clouded over. "Yes, though these plans of yours never seem to turn out exactly the way you want them," he muttered. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

Anakin's expression hardened. "We're going into that prison. You are coming, Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "Of course I am, Anakin," he responded wearily. "I want Jaina rescued just as much as you do."

Anakin growled. "Then come on. We don't have much time to waste."

* * *

Unfortunately for Anakin, breaking into a maximum security prison required more time to solidify plans than he would have liked. After the initial plan was conceived, Anakin took his ideas to Yoda, Bail and Padmé for input. Though all of them would have liked to have Yoda with them while they attempted to break into Desolation Alley, it was quickly decided by the Jedi Master himself that anyone who wasn't human would be out-of-place, not to mention that Yoda was one of the most recognizable Jedi in the Galaxy. Finding a suitable disguise for him so he could join them on this mission would be near impossible.

Another issue would be finding another ship. They clearly would not be able to use the _Tantive IV_ for this mission and they had no smaller transports with them. They would have to use something else, which meant visiting a planet in the Outer-Rim in order to acquire the necessary transport.

A week had passed by the time they managed to acquire a ship. As they were strained for credits, there was a minor operation in which Anakin, Kyp and Obi-Wan, accompanied by R2-D2, managed to slip into a docking bay and hijack a docked ship for their use. They flew it back to the spot several miles outside of town where the _Tantive IV_ was hidden.

Once that part of the plan was completed, they were almost ready to launch their rescue mission. However, while Anakin, Obi-Wan and Kyp had been working, Padmé and Bail had been doing some of their own planning. Following the disaster broadcast over the HoloNet, the Senators had found that the links to the beginnings of a rebellion against the Empire had been crushed. With the capture of their friends and the occupation of many of the anti-Imperial planets and systems, Palpatine had seemingly won a victory. However, Bail and Padmé had managed to see past the dark tragedy and begin again.

"The mission to rescue Jaina will take some time," Padmé said at the start of one of their meetings. "While you—" here, she addressed Anakin, Obi-Wan and Kyp in turn – "are infiltrating Desolation Alley, we will be trying to re-establish what we lost when the Empire hit the systems that opposed its rule."

Kyp frowned. "How do you mean to do that?" he asked. "All connection was destroyed. People are scared of what the Empire could do to them if they dare to speak out against it, or plan resistance, even in secret."

"It will take some work, but there is a way," Bail said. His tone was grim – he still had not recovered from the shock of losing Alderaan to the Empire in such a destructive manner.

"How?" Obi-Wan asked.

"We can be thankful that there is at least one good thing that came out of Palpatine's move," Padmé said. She took a deep breath. "I know it can hardly seem like a good thing when the governments have been overturned and the rightful Senators – ones who care about the welfare of the people – have become political prisoners, but there is something we overlooked when the news first hit. The general populace's support for the government is shattered now that they know how far Palpatine is willing to go."

"How is that going to help us?" Anakin inquired, folding his arms.

"If we can manage to connect the pockets of people who want to resist the tyrannical rule of the Empire," Bail answered, "then we can re-establish an underground rebellion. We know where we can start – those areas where people have been affected by the Empire's move. There is bound to be willing resistance there."

"The only drawback," Padmé added, "is that we don't know how many will be too frightened to show resistance, even if it is an underground movement. Palpatine is leaning towards a rule of fear. It is a powerful move, but if we can break the control fear has over people, then we can start a resistance and eventually work towards defeating the Empire. If the majority of the Galaxy wants to overthrow their government…" She paused. "Sometimes there is nothing more powerful than the sheer force of numbers."

"Wait…" Anakin's eyes narrowed. "Most people on the Outer-Rim won't give a damn about what government rules on Coruscant—"

"Into Mid-Rim and Inner-Rim systems we must go," Yoda said. "Hidden from those we mean to help, we can no longer be."

Anakin passed a hand across his face. "Palpatine will be watching—"

"It's a risk we'll have to take," Padmé interrupted. "But we won't be without precautions." She shot a firm look at Anakin. He knew exactly what she meant without needed to hear the words – she was warning him not to get in her way as she could take care of herself.

"No place is safe anymore," Bail said. "If we're going to act, we need to act now."

A plan was quickly formulated. While Anakin, Obi-Wan and Kyp travelled to Oovo IV and Desolation Alley, the _Tantive IV_ – under a codename – would reach out to as many Imperial-occupied systems as possible within a three-week span in an attempt to start a secret underground resistance. After three weeks, they would rendezvous on Mon Calamari.

Anakin felt strangely excited as the day of their departure to rescue Jaina drew closer. It was not a feeling of exhilarated excitement, rather a grimly determined one he had rarely felt before. The need to find Jaina, to see her again, was growing within him, gnawing away at his nerves. Ever since her heritage had been revealed, Anakin was keenly aware of a part of him that seemed missing, just as Jaina was missing.

That being said, once she was rescued, he wasn't sure what he would say to her. In the past months, he had had a troublesome friendship with her. At times, she had seemed too close for comfort – she had been too knowledgeable of him and the way his mind worked. She read him with such ease that it had unnerved him and he had pushed her away. Anakin had tried to ignore the uneasiness she had bestowed on him whenever they were in the same room, but he never could dismiss it entirely. He could only think of the moment when Jaina had revealed what kind of a monster he had become in her past… He shuddered to remember her words.

Now, he knew why she had told him that. Now he knew that he could have believed her when she had told him that she had faith in him. The fact that she was his _granddaughter_ amplified the meaning of her mission into the past. They were family. She was doing this not only to save him, but to save people they both cared about: Luke and Leia.

He did have one question for her once she was rescued. Anakin needed to know and it was something only Jaina could answer. He supposed Kyp could speak for her, but it was Jaina's right to tell him why she delayed in telling him the truth. If he had known sooner, perhaps it would have changed the course of events.

Or perhaps it would have made things worse.

"Anakin, let me do that, you're going to cut yourself."

Anakin jumped, thrown out of his cycle of thoughts as Padmé's voice called out behind him. He was standing in their fresher, staring at his pale, pasty reflection in the mirror, a pair of scissors in one hand. For the past several days, he had been contemplating the best way to alter his appearance for the disguise. When one had as recognizable a face as his own and ne was walking into a maximum security prison that was as difficult to escape as it was to enter, one had to take certain precautions. Already, he had decided to stop shaving and a fine layer of stubble had appeared on his cheeks.

Padmé sighed, walked across the room and took the scissors from his hand. She indicated a chair in the corner with a hand. "Sit."

Anakin did as he was told without speaking.

"You're worried," Padmé murmured as she carefully eyed his hair, trying to decide on the best way to cut it. "What were you thinking about?"

"I don't think it's very hard to guess, Padmé," he muttered.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "You'll get her out," she said quietly, raising the scissors and cutting the first lock of his hair. "I know you will. And then when this is over, it will be time for us three to have a talk."

"Padmé, this is more serious than just getting her out," Anakin said softly. He looked up and caught sight of himself in the mirror. To his own eyes, his expression looked a little wild. "Palpatine has her imprisoned." His voice was hoarse. "And Force knows what he's doing to her. We can only hope that she will be alive when we get to her." His fingers clenched.

Padmé pursed her lips and continued cutting. She paused for a moment. "The twins—"

"I know about the twins!" Anakin snapped. "This is _more_ than that, Padmé! This is… agh, I don't know what! I know the twins can sense when she is in danger, but this goes beyond their connection—"

"Anakin." Padmé set the scissors down and kneeled beside his chair. She wrapped her fingers gently around his hand. "You're feeling guilty for what happened on Dagobah. It's understandable – everything must seem ten times worse than it did before you knew her relationship to us."

"It's not just that," he answered quietly. "It's the way I treated her before. It's because I was so stupid not to realize it. It's because I should have been able to _do_ something to prevent it, but I didn't. I could have been able to save her, but she's the one who went and sacrificed herself for me—"

"Stop." She placed a hand gently on his cheek and locked eyes with him. "Put it behind you. All that matters now is rescuing her. You can't worry about the past now."

Anakin made an indistinguishable noise. "Try telling that to Jaina."

Padmé glanced away. She didn't speak again, and suddenly threw herself into his arms. Anakin held her tightly until she drew away again. Her eyes were wet with tears that were threatening to roll down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes with the back of her palm and smiled softly at him. She squeezed his hand once before picking up her scissors again and returning to cutting his hair in silence.

Several hours later, Anakin left the _Tantive IV_ to inspect their stolen ship. It was growing dark, but he needed to find something that would keep his hands busy. He was in the process of looking over the outer hull when he heard light footsteps coming up behind him. He turned, expecting to see Padmé, but was surprised to see Scout standing there instead. Her eyes were wide, her face pale, her red hair neatly tied back in a braid. There was a resolute look in her eyes.

"What is it?" Anakin asked.

Scout swallowed hard. "I'm coming with you. I want to help."

Anakin groaned. "No," he told her bluntly, turning back to his work.

Scout ran over to him. "I can fight!"

"That's not the point, Scout."

"But I can help! I _want_ to help!"

"No. This is something for Obi-Wan, Kyp and I. You're not coming."

Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Why not?"

"It's too dangerous, Scout," Anakin snapped. "Stop asking and go back to the ship."

"No." She crossed her arms. "Not until you give me a good answer."

"You want a good answer?" Anakin retorted, turning on her. "Well, then – you… you can't! And that's _it."_

"That's not it!" Scout shouted. "I knew Jaina too! And you shouldn't talk about doing dangerous things – I'm way older than you were when you were podracing!"

"Scout, that's _not_ the point!" Anakin shouted.

Scout clenched her jaw. "Then what _is?"_

Anakin sighed. He drew away from the ship and folded his arms. "Look," he began, "I appreciate the fact that you want to help, but this is a dangerous mission. We're risking enough already. We don't need to put anyone else in anymore danger, and frankly, Scout – I know you can defend yourself and you're pretty good with a lightsaber, but you're too young. You'd be underfoot, potentially putting us in danger as well as yourself. Your place is here, on the _Tantive IV_. If it's any consolation, Whie is staying here as well."

"That's not fair at all," Scout said, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm sorry, Scout," Anakin told her. "The larger group we have, the bigger the chance of getting caught. We're infiltrating a maximum security prison and it's too dangerous if you're tagging along. Enough Jedi are dead. I don't want to put you in that position."

Scout hung her head. She sighed. "I knew you would say know," she said, her tone defeated. "I already asked Master Kenobi, and he said the same thing." She glanced at him. "Only nicer."

Anakin groaned. "Look," he said quickly, "I'm sorry. But that's that Scout. You can't come."

She pursed her lips. "If I have to play 'Bantha, Bantha, Mynock' one more time, I _will _scream," she said, turning back towards the _Tantive IV._

"Scout," Anakin called after a moment. She turned back, her eyes brightening with hope. Anakin walked over to her. "No, I'm not changing my mind," he told her, "but what you can do – if you don't want to play games with the younglings anymore – is to ask Padmé if there's anyway you can help her. She and Senator Organa are working on a plan to unite those against the Empire. It's a challenging task, but I'm sure you'll be up to it."

A flicker of a smile crossed Scout's face. "Okay," she said.

"Good," Anakin said, silently hoping that he wasn't doing Padmé a disfavour by sending Scout to her. "Come on," he added, "let's get back inside."

Anakin slept restlessly that night. He was plagued by ever-shifting dreams that depicted strange sequences of events. His dream-state frequently found himself falling through a vast emptiness while he heard the cruel laughter of the Sith Lord echoing around him. As if linked by thoughts of Palpatine, he was then faced with images of Jaina and countless ways of torture that she might be facing this very instant… anything that would break her spirit.

Unable to face the horrors any longer, Anakin gave up on sleep in the early morning hours.

Making his way out of the _Tantive IV_ and down to the smaller ship, Anakin found that he wasn't the only one who lacked sleep. Kyp was sitting on the grass several feet away from the ship, staring up blankly at the stars above. Just as Anakin had adjusted his hairstyle for the benefit of a disguise, Kyp had done so as well. His hair was much shorter now, no longer in need of being tied back. When Anakin approached him, Kyp glanced briefly at him and nodded.

Neither man needed to say a word. They both knew what the other was thinking.

Presently, Anakin could not bear the silence any longer. "I hate this waiting," he said through gritted teeth. "I hate all this waiting and preparing it takes."

Kyp made an indistinguishable noise.

"Have… have the twins…?" His question trailed off.

Anakin shook his head. "No reaction," he said. "Just… silence."

"I hope she's all right."

"So do I."

Kyp barked a hollow laugh. "But she's not," he said quietly, glancing at the sky again. "For all we know, Palpatine's ripping her knowledge of the future from her head piece by piece."

Anakin shuddered. Eyeing a rock lying on the ground near his feet, he levitated it with the force and threw it away with all his might. He watched its descent swallowed up by the darkness.

"What… what did she sound like when she contacted you?"

Kyp didn't answer. In the moonlight, Anakin saw his friend's face harden.

"Afraid," he answered quietly. "In pain. She was clinging on to every inch of hope she had when she contacted me, but I sensed… somehow she thought that she wouldn't reach me. She's strong, but it's only a matter of days before that hope is crushed out of her."

Anakin's throat was dry. "She'll make it."

Kyp paused. "You don't sound like you believe it," he muttered.

Anakin's stomach twisted. Kyp had read him correctly – even though he wanted to believe that Jaina would be all right when they rescued her, part of him knew that she wouldn't. He didn't know what she would go through at the Sith Lord's hands, or what kind of torture lay in store for her, but he could not lull himself into believing that she would be perfectly fine when they rescued her. He prayed that she would still be alive by the time they managed to find her. If she wasn't…

"When I thought she died," Kyp said, his voice hollow, "I felt as though she had torn out part of me. I felt guilty and I was angry with myself for losing her. When I found out she was alive, I was so overcome with relief that for a moment I didn't stop to think. Now, everything is ten time's worse. She's alive, but just barely. Sidious will do everything in his power to prolong her death. I'm scared to think of what he'll put her through, but it's not just the physical torture." He turned and locked eyes with Anakin. "I'm more worried about her mind and the damage he can do there."

Anakin felt cold. It was something he had overlooked before; Jaina was so strong willed, he could never have believed that anyone would be able to break through the defences around her mind. But from Kyp's tone, he knew that there was someone who could.

"What do you mean?"

Kyp looked away. "You've never been captured by Palpatine," he said. "I have. And Jaina has. You didn't see her when I saved her the first time—"

"What?" Anakin frowned. He was confused – when did Palpatine capture Jaina before? When they were in the future?

"You weren't there," Kyp said quietly. "You didn't see what she was like." He paused. "Palpatine's a time traveller," he began. "With that comes more than just the power to warp time. There are abilities that come with it that the Jedi would never dare to use. Even the majority of the Sith shied away from it. But not Sidious."

"Tell me what happened," Anakin said, his voice cold.

Kyp's expression went cold. "He doesn't even have to be in the same area as you to do this. He can lock you away in the furthest reaches of your mind, or close you off in time. You're completely alone, in the dark. When he did that to Jaina, he showed her the multiple versions of the battle where she lost her brother, each one growing progressively worse. She had to relive the darkest moment of her life again and again." He glanced at Anakin. "Do you have any idea what that did to her? I managed to pull her out of it, but if he does it again, or something equivalent…" He shuddered. "I don't know how long she will last."

Anakin's fingers clenched. Anger and hatred was threatening to bubble up inside him. He fought it back, struggling for control. The feeling of betrayal washed over him again as an image of Palpatine surfaced in his mind, unbidden. He had once been his friend… Anakin had once trusted him. It seemed like lifetimes ago.

How did it come to this? Palpatine was a monster, and Anakin was only just finding out how far the Sith Lord was willing to sink into the realms of callous cruelty.

"How can anyone be so _ruthless?"_ he snarled under his breath.

"Those who want power," Kyp answered. "Or control. And at any cost."

"Several months ago, I had no idea," Anakin said. "I would have died to protect him. Now…" He gritted his teeth. "Now, I'll do anything I have to. On Dagobah, before… I'll admit that I was scared of my destiny. I didn't want to kill him. I thought perhaps there might be a chance to turn him back to the light. Now I'm not so sure. There can't be any means for redemption when you've gone that far."

"You have to kill him." Kyp's voice was harsh.

"I'll do it." Anakin's eyes flashed. "For Jaina. For the Galaxy."

* * *

The next morning, the Jedi placed the final load of supplies they would need into the ship. Anakin, Obi-Wan and Kyp were all dressed in nondescript, dark clothing, their sabers stowed safely out of sight in the pockets of their cloaks. Obi-Wan had also followed Anakin's idea of cutting his hair; he had shaved off his beard, making him look several years younger. It had been years since Anakin had seen Obi-Wan without a beard and the lack of one made him seem decidedly unlike himself.

The atmosphere was sombre as they prepared to board. A small group, including Padmé, Bail, Yoda and some of the _Tantive IV's_ crew, had come to see them off. Scout and Whie were there as well; Scout's eyes continually glanced at Anakin as she tried to mask her regret by toying with her braided hair. However, it did not work very well – her disappointment was unmistakable through the Force.

"As soon as we have her, we'll contact you and head for the rendezvous point on Mon Calamari," Obi-Wan was saying to Bail and Yoda.

Anakin picked up several more exchanges between the three, but his brain was filtering the words. Padmé was standing beside him, her hand in his. They needed no words to express their feelings. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He breathed in the soft, flowery scent of her hair as he spoke quietly to her.

"Be safe."

"You too," she responded.

"The Mid-Rim systems aren't the safest place for you right now. Someone could recognize you."

Padmé drew back so she could look him in the face. "I'll be fine." She paused. A moment later, a small smile graced her lips. "A high security prison is hardly the safest place for you right now, either," she added, arching an eyebrow.

"Padmé, don't—"

She pressed a hand against his lips, silencing him. "I'll be safe. Concentrate on freeing Jaina, don't let yourself be distracted by worrying about me. She needs you right now. I'll see you on Mon Calamari."

Anakin glanced at towards Scout. She met his eyes, her expression solemn.

"Has Scout talked to you?" he asked.

Padmé nodded. "I'll look out for her. She's very spirited and bright – I think she and Whie make a good team. I have no doubts that I will be grateful for their help by the end of this."

"Good." Anakin paused. "She wanted to come with me, you know."

She nodded gravely. "I know. She's overly eager – this mission is too dangerous for her. There are too many things that could go wrong; you can't have her underfoot."

Anakin glanced away. "Yeah."

Padmé placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Ani—"

He turned back to her. "What?"

Padmé didn't answer. Resting a hand on his cheek, she kissed him soundly. Emotions she normally kept tight control over came loose. Anakin could sense an overwhelming fear – fear for him, fear for Jaina, fear for their friends. There was something in the way that she kissed him that told him that she was afraid that this might be their last kiss, if things went wrong. Padmé was strong and she could hold on tightly to her beliefs that he would succeed and Jaina would be rescued, but something about her kiss betrayed that.

"Go, Anakin," Padmé murmured as she drew away. "They're waiting for you."

He squeezed her hand one last time. "I'll see you on Mon Calamari."

As Anakin made to turn away, there was a sudden whirring followed by a hurried clanking from the ramp. He spun around to see R2-D2, followed by C-3PO, coming towards them. 3PO was waving his golden arms in the air, desperately shouting at R2 to wait for him.

"Artoo! Slow down, you're going too fast!"

"Of course you wouldn't forget to bring Artoo with you," Padmé murmured to Anakin.

As the droids came to a halt, 3PO banged his arm on the top of R2's dome.

"Now, where do you think you're going? I need help looking after the younglings, this is no time to be running off on mad capers—"

"He's coming with us, Threepio," Anakin interrupted.

3PO stopped mid-sentenced. "Of course, Master Anakin!"

R2 beeped happily.

"That was not necessary!" 3PO admonished.

R2 beeped again.

"You mind your language! I am not jealous; I would rather not be assigned to a mission where we'd be doomed to be lost in some distant prison world where we'd be dismantled and used as spare parts for goodness knows what—"

"Spare us the prophecies of doom, Threepio," Anakin said, cutting him off. "We need to get going."

There was a grim silence as they prepared to board the ship. Anakin was the last one up the ramp; with a final look back at his friends, he caught Padmé's eye. A lump formed in his throat and he swallowed hard. Just as he made to turn away, he saw Yoda. The Jedi Master had been quiet for the most part, but there was something in his expression that unsettled Anakin.

It was a warning – but against what, Anakin could not begin to guess.


	45. Nightfall

**CHAPTER XLV**

**Nightfall**

Jaina paced around her cell with an intensity that frightened even herself. Though weakness still plagued her muscles, the wave of illness that had overcome her when she had first regained consciousness had disintegrated. She did not know how many days she had spent in her cell, but it had been enough to slowly start to regain some of her strength.

Her new arm was a dead weight. It was heavy and uncomfortable, a constant reminder of what had happened to her. It made her wonder how much Palpatine knew about the future and whether or not he realized that her uncle had had a limb replaced – just like her grandfather. Just like her.

Perhaps Palpatine had a twisted sense of humour. The irony of the situation was too much to ignore.

The countless hours she spent in the dark, tracing her boundaries again and again had served to fuel both her anger and her questions. What was Palpatine trying to attempt? What did he want to gain by keeping her here? Every time she thought his name, she felt the anger begin to swell in her. It took all her self control to resist it. Palpatine was a Sith Lord. He would expect her, he would _want_ to her succumb to her anger. She would not give him that pleasure.

"OW!"

Jaina's fist had slammed into the duracrete floor of her cell as if to emphasize her thoughts. She quickly cradled her sore fingers as gently as she could with her mechanical ones, cringing slightly at the feel of cold metal on her skin. She though she would never accept it – she despised the mechanical arm.

"What did you do?" A'Sharad's voice sounded concerned.

"What do you think?" Jaina retorted through gritted teeth.

He paused. "Is there a purpose behind punching the floor?"

"_Yes."_

"Other than making your knuckles hurt, I hope."

Jaina groaned. "Stop. Leave me alone. I need to think."

"About what?"

"About what the hell I'm going to do to get this arm off once I'm out of here," Jaina hissed, wincing at the sound of metal sliding across metal as she clenched her fingers.

"If you get out," he said quietly.

Jaina sighed. "I _will_ get out," she said.

In some ways, she was thankful that she had someone to talk to – when she felt like talking. A'Sharad listened, and that was enough. If she was locked in here alone, in the dark, she was not sure what would happen to her. As long as they never found out that she had a way of communicating with a fellow prisoner, she would last much longer than she thought her captors expected her to. She would show them, if it was the last thing she ever did. Gone was the crushed spirit she had shown after her encounter with Palpatine. Though she had not been freed from her cell yet, she was determined that she would not succumb to grief of despair. Jaina was determined to go down fighting.

However, there were some traits of her cellmate that she found unerringly eerie. Perhaps it was an effect of being imprisoned for such a long time, but she thought that A'Sharad found it quite easy to believe that escape from this place was impossible. There was no inkling of hope within him. This confused Jaina, as at times he sounded as if he didn't quite believe what he was saying. Regardless, he was a very hard person to understand.

"Jaina, if you knew what I knew—"

"I don't want to know," she replied shortly. "I haven't given up yet, and you can't stop me from holding on to the one thing _he_ hasn't taken away from me. I have too much to fight for."

He laughed hollowly. "Like what? What is there to fight for?"

Jaina was silent. What was she fighting for? There were too many answers to that question, too many reasons why she was here, out of her time, fighting… hoping.

"Is it peace? How… idealistic of you."

"Stop it," Jaina said through gritted teeth. She sat down on the opposite side of her cell from the hole in the base of the wall that connected her cell to his. She folded her arms. "How can you say that? It's what the Jedi believe in."

"And I've come to realize during my time here that our beliefs may have been wrong," he retorted. His tone was almost scathing.

"Oh?" Jaina raised an eyebrow. She scratched at her neck where the rough material of her prison uniform had raised an itchy rash. "Do elaborate."

"Peace… is an idea," A'Sharad began. "An idea that we can always strive towards, but one we can never truly touch. No matter where we go, how long we fight, there will always be turbulence in the Galaxy. If we're not at intergalactic war, then there will be feuds between systems, or confined on one singular planet. There are warlords and smugglers and pirates in the Outer Rim. Galactic peace is something we can never achieve. It's the nature of the universe to have these conflicts."

"Of course," Jaina said, rolling her eyes. "I have had my share of experiences with those on the Outer Rim." At the mention of warlords, she could not help but think back to her past years between the end of the war and her journey into time and all the effort she had put into stopping crisis after crisis as the Galaxy recovered from the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. "There will always be a certain amount of turmoil – we can't stop it all. But we can fight against those that would cause endless pain and suffering to the people of the Galaxy. People like Palpatine, who would slaughter innocent people to prove a point, or to keep his power. With Palpatine in power, unrest and havoc in the Galaxy will only get worse. And you have no idea how by how much."

A'Sharad laughed hollowly. "I don't think you understand, Jaina. Even if Palpatine is defeated and a democracy restored, the Galaxy will never know true peace. A utopian universe is impossible. The Galaxy is rotten to the core. Those in power are afraid to lose it, and the cycle of corruption will continue – even within a democracy. This universe can never be cured of corruption and misery."

Jaina pursed her lips. "Yes, it can – to a certain degree. Do you honestly think the Galaxy is better off with Palpatine as Emperor?"

"It is difficult to tell when one is locked inside a cell and hasn't had connection with the outside world for a very long time. I can't say."

Jaina paused. She frowned. "You can't honestly mean that you'd actually _trust_ Palpatine and give him a chance?"

"Maybe."

"He's a Sith Lord!"

"And a politician."

"A dictator," she hissed. "He's murdered millions with his schemes – and those numbers will only continue to rise as his power grows."

"It does not matter," he replied. "Any government is corrupt. We can't save it."

"We can save this one."

He snorted. "Oh?" he said scornfully. "How do you know?"

"Because Anakin Skywalker is still alive," Jaina snapped.

"You really believe the Prophecy of the Chosen One, then," he said.

"I do."

"Why?"

She paused. "Because I know he can bring balance to the Force," Jaina said softly. "Because I know he will find a way… because I have to believe he can. He's the only one who can bring down Sidious and if he doesn't, then this Galaxy will never recover from the darkness the Empire will bring."

"Heh." There was the sound of tapping fingers on duracrete. "Spoken like a true believer."

"Why?" Jaina retorted. "Do you not believe it?"

He paused. He was breathing heavily, as Jaina could hear every breath he took. "When you've seen what I have," he began. "When you know what I know… you start to realize that ancient prophecies have no effect at all. Skywalker is a powerful Jedi. But is he the Chosen One? Frankly, Jaina – I can't believe that this ancient prophecy is true. There's no evidence for it and its words have long since been lost to us. We only have the myth. Maybe Skywalker can defeat Sidious, but as for bringing balance to the Force… I do not believe that is something that can ever be done."

Jaina was silent. _But it can,_ she thought. _Because it must. Anakin's the only one who can defeat Palpatine. He _is _the Chosen One, he's the only one who can make things right again._

"I know Anakin," she said finally. "He is different from all the others. He can do what we cannot dream of doing."

"You really believe he is going to come and rescue you, then," A'Sharad said.

"My friends _are_ coming," Jaina said firmly.

He was silent.

"No, Jaina. There is no one coming. There is only you and me."

* * *

Several hours had passed. A'Sharad had fallen silent after Jaina had decided to ignore his words. At one point, she thought she had heard his cell door open, but she did not feel like investigating whether or not he had been taken away. Time passed slowly and in the silence, Jaina tried to sleep.

She was lying curled on her side when they came for her. The door burst open, flooding her cell with light. She squinted, pushing herself up with one arm while she shielded her eyes with the other. The guards came in, two of them hauling her to her feet as the black-haired woman entered. She stared coolly down at Jaina.

"I hope you will cooperate this time, Solo," she said.

"It depends," Jaina snapped, her eyes flashing. "Where am I going this time? Why doesn't Palpatine come to call if he wants to speak to me so badly?"

"The _Emperor_," the woman replied icily, "does not wish to see you. You are being escorted to hear your verdict."

"I didn't realize I had attended a trial," Jaina spat.

The woman raised her chin. "Your flippancy will not be tolerated," she said coldly. "You are a prisoner of the Empire."

"Oh really?" Jaina growled.

The woman ignored this. She turned to the guards. "Bring her," she commanded. "If she does not cooperate, you know what to do."

Feeling that she would rather not be injected with something that would knock her out, Jaina let the guards slide the binders on to her wrists and lead her out of her cell. The corridor outside was bleak and grey, illuminated by small lights placed at even spacing along the wall. The rest of the prison block was similarly designed. Considering the amount of pain she had been in the last time she was dragged through these halls, this was the first time she noticed what the cell block looked like.

The maze of corridors outside the cell block was impossible to follow. A uniform colour, it was difficult to tell one from another, though Jaina did attempt to make a map in her mind, in case she ever escaped.

The power of the ysalamiri continued its effect even here in the corridors and the Force remained silent and unreachable. With dread, Jaina began to realize that perhaps the force of her telepathic call to Kyp had also reached Palpatine and to avoid any further attempts of contacting him, Sidious had made sure the ysalamiri were located wherever Jaina could be found when she was outside her cell.

The chamber she was brought to was brightly lit, so much so that it hurt her eyes after spending so many days in the darkness of her cell. Squinting and blinking, Jaina did not fight as she was suspended in a force field to keep her contained – thankfully, it was not one of Palpatine's monstrous force fields from the future. She closed here eyes and took several deep breaths to keep herself calm; whatever happened next, she knew it would not be pleasant.

"Jaina Solo," a man's voice said, "do you know why you're here?"

There was something familiar about his voice, but she couldn't quite place it. Jaina gritted her teeth and slowly opened her eyes to look at him. An icy coldness washed over her, freezing her in place – it was the Sith Lord from her vision in the cave. Palpatine's new apprentice.

She clenched her fists. "Yes."

The man raised an eyebrow. His orange eye flashed dangerously at her. "Do continue," he hissed.

"Your Master has made it quite clear why I am being imprisoned here," she snapped.

He laughed. The sound sent shivers down Jaina's spine; she recognized that laugh, but her mind seemed incapable of telling her where she had heard it before. Surely he had not laughed in her vision—

"Let me be more precise, Solo," the man said coldly. "Are you a Jedi?"

"Yes—"

"Then you must know that under the jurisdiction of the Empire, any Jedi is a traitor and a classified terrorist—"

"So I've been told," she spat. "What have I done that makes me merit those titles?"

"You recognize these people, I am sure."

Jaina blinked from the harsh, blinding light as six holograms appeared – pictures of Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padmé, Bail, Yoda and Kyp. She stared at them for a moment and then looked away, determined not to answer, not to show any emotions.

"Four of these people are also Jedi," the man continued. "Two of them attempted an assassination on the Emperor. As their accomplice, Solo, you are formally being brought up on charges of conspiring against the Empire and sedition against the Emperor. You have been tried for treason and found guilty. Under normal circumstances, an automatic sentence of death would follow, but your circumstances offer another way."

"Meaning Palpatine doesn't want me killed quite yet," Jaina hissed through clenched teeth.

The orange eye glared down at her, daring her to speak out of turn again.

"The Empire requires your cooperation, Solo," the man said. "You will reveal all information concerning the whereabouts of the _Tantive IV_, the Alderaanian ship that is currently home to these traitors. You will tell us what you know of the renegades Bail Organa and Padmé Amidala, and their plans for rebellion against the Empire. If you do this, you will be set free. If you do not comply, you will be punished."

Jaina paused before answering. "I don't know anything that would be of use to you," she said coldly. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

The man locked eyes with her. "It would be easier for you to submit to the questioning."

"I have nothing that I would like to say to you," Jaina replied, keeping her voice steady. "Except that this is a forgery; I know Darth Sidious, and I know he needs me for something. This pretence is useless for what he has planned for me."

"Your illusions are quite charming, Solo," the man said after a moment. "Charming, and ultimately useless." He stared at her as he spoke to the guards. "Take her and remove her from my sight. She needs to be taught to be more cooperative in the future."

The force field was released and Jaina fell to the floor, crumpling against the hard surface. She was dragged to her feet by the guards and taken out of the room and down another corridor. The room they brought her to was similar to the one where she had been processed. The guards threw her into the chair in the centre of the room and strapped her in. She struggled against them, but her efforts only succeeded in getting her a sharp slap in the mouth. She tasted blood on her lip and stared up at her captors.

"Why are you doing this?"

The closest guard to her looked as though he was about to answer, but the black-haired woman snapped an order before he could speak.

"Do not converse with the prisoner," she commanded heartlessly.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jaina saw that they were preparing something. A means of torture? Her heartbeat quickened as she recognized several of the devices around her. However, none of the guards seemed to be interested in them. There was a small group of people in white medical uniforms working in the corner of the room. She strained to see what it was they were doing, but her restraints prevented her from moving.

"You don't have to do this," she said quietly.

The black-haired woman glanced at her. "It is not our position to question our orders, _Jedi."_ She spat the word like a curse.

"You misunderstand me," Jaina replied. Her eyes narrowed. "What you plan on doing to me won't accomplish anything. How can you think it will? Torture me until I die, I won't give you the information you want. I won't speak a _word_ about the whereabouts of my friends."

The woman's expression hardened. "It does not matter what I think. These are Lord Krayt's orders and he speaks for the Emperor." She turned to the medics. "Is it ready?"

"Yes, ma'am." The medic's voice was young. Jaina watched him approach, and saw that he was really not much older than she was. She swallowed hard as she caught sight of he syringe in his hand and the violently yellow liquid contained within it.

"What… is that?" she said, staring at it.

The medic's expression was cold. "A treatment," he said.

Jaina felt his hands on her left forearm. She struggled, knowing that whatever was contained in the syringe was something she did not want in her system. However, her restraints were too tight. Without the Force, she was powerless to stop them. The needle pierced her skin and she felt the liquid rush into her body. Her arm began to shake and a moment later, the effects took over completely. She felt as though her blood was burning in her veins. Her mind became clouded and she couldn't think. Her visions blurred and she barely felt the pressure of her restraints being released. She toppled forwards, landing on the cold, hard floor.

The pain had blinded her. Jaina couldn't think, she couldn't see, she couldn't feel anything but the fire searing her veins. She had the brief sensation of being dragged forwards, heard a mumble of voices, but there was nothing distinct. Only when she was taken back to her cell and thrown in, the door slamming closed behind her, did she begin to come back to reality. Unable to stop shaking, she curled up into a ball and tried not to concentrate on the pain.

"Jaina?"

A'Sharad.

She tried to respond, but found that she could not even feel her tongue. She was incapable of speech. A strange sound bubbled out of her.

"Oh hell…"

She heard the echoes of movement from his cell. Crawling forwards, she reached the hole in the wall and placed her left hand next to it. A moment later, she felt his hand on top of hers. There was something comforting about it.

She wanted to thank him, but her throat refused to let her speak the words.

"I'm sorry, Jaina," he murmured after a moment. "I am so sorry for what they did. It's an experiment. A diabolical treatment for Force sensitives. I'm sorry."

She thought she felt tears in her eyes, whether from the pain or the fear of the "treatment". She did not know what it was for, or what it was supposed to do. She felt cold, so cold. She closed her eyelids, and felt the tears cling to her eyelashes.

"How… do… you know?" she rasped.

"I spent much time researching this facility," A'Sharad said quietly. "And I have been here for much longer than you. I have felt the treatment myself – when I first came here – but they eventually stopped administrating it to me."

"…why?"

"I don't know. Perhaps it was… Krayt's plan." His hand stiffened.

Jaina's mind conjured up images of her vision from the cave. "Sidious'… apprentice."

"Yes."

Jaina opened her eyes and stared into the darkness. There was something strangely comforting about not being able to see anything. Just darkness. Nothing.

"Evil," she said hoarsely. "I… hate… them."

A'Sharad didn't say anything.

Jaina didn't know how long she lay there, waiting for the effects of the "treatment" to subside. She lay on the cold floor of her cell, staring up into the darkness, one hand continually resting on A'Sharad's, as if this link to him was a link to sanity, a way to escape the pain. Her muscles felt weak and soon she found that she did not think she could move even if she wanted to.

What might have been hours later, a tiny flap in her door opened and she heard a metal bowl and cup being shunted into her cell. Groaning, she turned herself around so she could crawl forwards and inspect the food she had been given. In the dark, she couldn't tell where the bowl and cup were. She slowly patted her hand along the duracrete floor; it came into contact with something solid and she heard the clatter of the cup and felt the dampness of water seeping into her clothes as she accidentally knocked it over. She slumped over. No doubt that was the only water she would receive all day, and her parched throat was burning.

"Here."

"…what?" Jaina reached and took hold of the side of the bowl she had received and dragged it with her as she crawled back towards the hole in the wall.

"Have mine. You need the water more than I do."

She heard the scrapping sound of the metal cup against the duracrete floor. Carefully, she reached towards the hole and felt the sides of the cup. She closed her fingers around it and pulled it over to her side. Raising it to the dry lips, she drank eagerly. The water had a foul taste, but at least it quenched her thirst. When finished, she dropped the cup and turned to her bowl of food – a small portion of thick, slippery strands of some kind of vegetable. The strands were hard to chew and had a rank taste, so she soon gave up on trying to eat them and shoved the bowl away from her.

"Thank… you," she whispered.

"You needed the water," he replied quietly.

Jaina curled up on her side and closed her eyes, tucking her knees into her chest. She tried to ignore the uncomfortable coldness of her mechanical arm against her skin. She wanted to sleep, but her body would not let her. Instead, she lay in the dank coldness, trying to keep control of the hundreds of questions running through her mind as the fog from the treatment slowly lifted.

At least she had someone to talk to.

"Who… is he?" she asked.

"Who?"

"…Krayt."

A'Sharad paused. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"I've… met him," he said slowly. "Once or twice. Sidious' apprentice is very powerful, almost as powerful as his master – and it is my guess that he might soon surpass him in strength."

Jaina tried to clear her throat, but it felt as though something thick and viscous was stuck in it. "…how? Palpatine… is invincible."

There was another long pause. "You might not believe me—"

"—I can… believe many things."

He hesitated. "Very well."

He took a breath. It was as though A'Sharad was debating whether to tell her or not. For a moment, she thought that he would retract his statement and keep whatever secret he knew about Darth Krayt from her.

She was wrong. When A'Sharad spoke, it was the last thing she expected to hear.

"Krayt can time travel."


	46. Mayhem at Desolation Alley

**CHAPTER XLVI**

**Mayhem at Desolation Alley**

Oovo IV was a desolate-looking asteroid. If Anakin had wanted to, he would have come here to test the podracing tracks, but his mission was much more important than enjoying a high-risk race. He was on a high-risk rescue mission. If Jaina was still alive – which he had to believe she was – she was going to be there. They would need every inch of their combined powers and intelligence to break her out without being caught.

It was silent in the cockpit, except for the occasional beep from R2-D2, as Anakin carefully approached the asteroid. There was a large transport ship heading towards the asteroid. The energy shields would have to open to let it through. It was still too far away to be noticed by anyone watching the entrance to the prison, so now was the time to act. Anakin's plan required perfect timing, but he knew he could do it.

With precision, he landed the ship on the side of the transport and attached it to the hull. Satisfied, Anakin drew away from the controls and glanced over his shoulder at his companions.

"Now we just have to wait to get through the energy shields," he murmured.

The atmosphere in the cockpit was tense. Anakin thought that no one would notice them, but they could never be sure. As soon as they landed in the hangar, they would be fine – or, as fine as one could be when one was sneaking into a maximum security prison.

The transport flew forwards. The energy shields parted and the ship went through. Anakin waited, his lips pursed together as he tried to estimate the right time to leave the transport. They were headed towards the prison's hangar; he could just make it out through the viewport. Taking a deep breath, he detached the ship from the transport's hull and they floated away before turning out of the way and zooming along their own course towards the hangar.

It was as good as they could do. Hopefully no one had noticed.

After Anakin landed the ship in the docking bay, the Jedi quickly disembarked. R2-D2, occasionally twittering some comment or another, followed them. Anakin eyed the guards on duty warily; if they suspected anything before the Jedi could act, they would be in trouble.

"Anakin, loosen up," Obi-Wan muttered under his breath as they made their way across the docking bay. "You're too tense. Try to act normal."

Anakin sighed, exasperated. "Yes, Master." There was truth in what Obi-Wan said, as usual. The tension from the past days had not fully disintegrated yet, and this mission was only adding to its effect. With anxiety and excitement coursing through him, he would need to take control of his nerves.

_Be casual, Skywalker,_ he told himself. _Normal. Everything will be fine. _

They made their way towards the nearest exit. The guards watched them carefully as they approached. Knowing exactly what they would ask for, Anakin forwent the formalities and reached out with the Force to influence their minds, making a small gesture with his hand.

"You do not need to see our identification," he intoned. "You will let us pass."

The guards went slack-eyed and drew back several steps. "We do not need to see your identification. You may pass."

Increasing his pace, Anakin led his companions past the guards and into the prison. Ducking down the first maintenance corridor they came to, Anakin drew a datapad out of his pocket and began speaking in a quick, low whisper. Behind them, R2 inspected the corridor, rolling down it until the darkness consumed him, and then rolling back to join the Jedi.

"Right," he started. "I've got the schematics of the prison on here." He tapped in the code and brought up a hologram of the prison. It glowed red, illuminating the dark corridor. "The cellblock where the Jedi prisoners are said to be held is located here." The area flashed several times. "The only problem is that I couldn't slice far enough into the database to get the codes—"

"—which we'll need to get in," Kyp finished, staring at the hologram. "And it will look suspicious if we wait for someone to enter or exit the cellblock."

"Exactly," Anakin said. "And Artoo won't be able to get them either. You can try, but from what I could tell, they're locked. The only way of getting them is to go to the database." He took a breath. "We don't have much time. Sooner or later, our ship will be tagged, as it wasn't registered when we snuck in. They'll know we they have a prison breach and that will complicate breaking Jaina out of here and escaping."

"What do you have in mind?" Kyp asked.

Anakin smiled slightly. "We've got comms," he said, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing three of the devices. He tossed a comlink each to Obi-Wan and Kyp. They quickly attached them to their collars, where they could use them when needed. "You two go ahead and get to the cellblock," Anakin continued. "Take Artoo with you. It will take some time. I'm going to the prison archive room, which is located here—" a second area flashed red on the hologram – "to get the access codes for you. When I have them, I'll comm you and you can break in and get Jaina."

Obi-Wan nodded, but his eyes narrowed as he stared at the hologram. "Anakin," he said, his voice carrying a warning.

Anakin held up a hand. "I've got that sorted out already."

"The archives are just as secure as the cellblock," Obi-Wan pointed out. "You won't be able to break in."

"I know." He flashed his friend a grin. "But they won't be expecting me to slide in through the air ducts."

Obi-Wan stared at him, giving him an all too familiar "you must be crazy" look.

"You improvised this, didn't you," he said.

Anakin shrugged. "An improvised plan is better than no plan at all. Besides," he added, "I've got a hunch that this is going to work."

"You and your hunches," Obi-Wan muttered under his breath.

R2 beeped a noise that sounded rather like astromech laughter. Anakin shot him a withering look.

"Look, there's a main air duct that leads straight to the archives from here," Anakin said, highlighting the path on the hologram.

"You know perfectly well that only droids use the air ducts."

"Which is why they won't be suspecting it," Anakin concluded. "I'll be fine. I can handle this, Master."

Obi-Wan sighed, defeated. "Very well, we'll do it your way."

"This will work," Anakin added. "I promise you."

In his career as a Jedi, Anakin had exercised much creativity when it came to his missions. This was possibly one of the more insane plans that he was going to try, but he was certain that it would succeed.

There was only slight catch. Desolation Alley was a large facility and they only had one copy of the schematics. As Anakin would be using the air ducts, it was more crucial for him to keep the datapad on him. It would not be a pleasant experience if was lost in the system. Thankfully, as soon as they found a computer terminal, R2 should be able to download the schematics and keep the Jedi headed in the right direction. Until then, Obi-Wan and Kyp would have to do with contacting Anakin when necessary to gain directions to the right cellblock.

Anakin gave his friends the first set of directions. Obi-Wan and Kyp waited as Anakin stowed the datapad in his pocket and attached his comlink to his collar. He walked several paces down the dark corridor before he spotted the grate that was the entrance to the air ducts. It was located high up on the wall, right where the wall connected with the ceiling. Anakin stared at it for a moment, taking in the size of the entrance.

"Think you can fit, Anakin?" Kyp asked.

"Yeah," he replied. He raised a hand and gently pulled the grate from the wall with the Force and set it on the floor. Then he used the Force to enhance the jump he needed to reach the hole in the wall. He caught hold of the edge on his first try and pulled himself up so his elbows were resting on the bottom of the air duct. He inspected the passage. It was would be a tight fit, but he thought it was big enough. If it wasn't… he would have to try something else. Gritting his teeth, he pulled himself up further and slid forwards on his stomach, disappearing into the shaft.

"Good luck, Anakin," he heard Obi-Wan's voice say. A moment later, he heard the _clang_ as Obi-Wan settled the grate back into its place.

It was pitch black in the air duct. Anakin couldn't see anything, not even his own hands, which were mere inches away from him. A horrid feeling of claustrophobia was beginning to sneak up on him.

"Okay, maybe this wasn't such a great idea," Anakin growled under his breath as he slid forward on his stomach. After going several paces, he fumbled for the datapad and pulled it from his pocket. Turning it on, he brought up the hologram of the prison and outlines the air ducts system. The luminous red light helped him see ahead by a few inches, which was better than nothing.

"Right," Anakin said to himself. "Better get moving."

He inched forwards and had only moved what felt like a foot when he banged the top of his head on the roof of the passage. Anakin swore loudly, wincing from the pain, and continued to move forwards, making sure not to bash his head again. He kept an eye on the datapad, hoping that the first intersection was coming up soon.

The datapad said it was.

The air duct said otherwise.

He had only been in the passage for a few minutes, and already he wanted to get out. Clearly, this wasn't such a good idea after all. Anakin thought about going back and finding a different way of breaking into the prison archives, but he knew this was the best way to do so without getting caught. Any other way would require the use of a lightsaber and much dodging of blaster shots and he was not in the mood for that at the moment.

Exasperated, Anakin sighed and continued to slide forwards, keeping an eye out for that first intersection.

Time had a habit of extending itself while he was in the dark, enclosed passage. When Anakin finally reached the first intersection, he felt as if he had left the maintenance corridor hours ago. Given a little more space, he flopped over and lay on his back, staring at the dark ceiling that was only a few inches away from his nose.

He hadn't heard from Obi-Wan or Kyp at all. Perhaps they had found their way and did not need him… or maybe they were in trouble.

Anakin groaned. He raised the datapad and brought up the plans of the prison before tapping his comlink.

"Obi-Wan, Kyp, are you—"

There was nothing but static on the other line.

"DAMN IT! OUCH!"

He had flipped himself over so he was on his stomach again, but had managed to bang his head on the ceiling in the process. Anakin rubbed the sore spot with his left hand, grimacing as he pounded the floor with his mechanical hand, beating out his frustration. He should have realized this problem – there was something interfering with the connection while he was in the air ducts. He wouldn't be able to communicate with Obi-Wan or Kyp until he reached the archives room.

They would have to get along without his help.

"Keep moving, Skywalker," he snapped at himself and began sliding forwards again.

"I'm never doing this again."

* * *

There were times when Obi-Wan wondered what possessed his friend to come up with such crazy schemes. This was definitely not the first time Anakin had come up with a completely over-the-top plan that no one else in their right minds would attempt to go through with. Sometimes they worked beautifully, others times they failed miserably. Most times, they ended somewhere inbetween.

This was already one of the inbetween plans, heading towards the "failed miserably" category. Obi-Wan was hoping that the steady progression towards disaster would not continue. They had walked through several halls in the direction that Anakin's schematics had suggested when Obi-Wan and Kyp had realized that their comlinks were not working. There was no way they could contact Anakin and they had yet to find a computer terminal for R2-D2.

Obi-Wan just hoped that it was Anakin's current position that was preventing them from reaching him – and not that the comlinks were faulty. If they were, then they were in trouble.

The walk towards the cellblock so far had not been particularly eventful, but there were several annoyances along the way. Despite the inconspicuous clothing they were wearing, Obi-Wan and Kyp had been stopped more than once by guards questioning their purpose of wandering the prison halls. Mind tricks easily dealt with the situation, but Obi-Wan was getting tired of pulling one every time they were stopped.

"Hey, you! Where do you think you're going?"

The Jedi came to a halt. Obi-Wan exchanged looks with Kyp. He shrugged.

"I think it's time for a change," he said.

"That was my idea," Obi-Wan agreed.

Simultaneously, they spun around, using the Force to slam the two guards into the wall. R2 whirred a comment as Kyp and Obi-Wan stepped towards the men they had successfully knocked out.

"Nice work," Kyp complemented.

"Same to you." Obi-Wan paused, looking around. "Now, where do we hide them?"

Ten minutes later, the two Jedi emerged from a storeroom dressed in the guards' uniforms. The guards would not be waking up for several hours, and the storeroom was unused so it was unlikely anyone would stumble across them. Now donning better disguises, Obi-Wan and Kyp continued along the hall.

* * *

Anakin never wanted to see the inside of an air duct again.

He had been following the twists and turns as instructed by his datapad for what felt like hours now. He knew he should be getting close to the prison archives now, but it was impossible to tell how long it would take him to finish crawling through the last few stretches of the narrow passageways. He had long since found a new, valuable use for datapads: if one heightened the illumination settings of the screen, they worked quite well as improvised glowsticks.

_Come on, keep going, keep moving…_

_Clang. _

His metal arm came in contact with something. Anakin looked down. In the light of the datapad screen, he saw that he had come across another grate. Glancing at the hologram, he sighed with relief. He had finally reached the end of his long crawl through the air duct.

He stowed the datapad away, plunging himself back into darkness except for the patch of light seeping through the grate from the room below. He felt for the grate and hooked his fingers around it, lifting it up and out of the way. He discarded it to one side. Carefully, he placed his hands on either side of the hole and slid forwards. He fell out of the air duct and landed in the prison database.

The archive room was large. Monitors lined the walls and computers and holodiscs that stored vast amounts of information along with security tapes were placed in rows. In an odd fashion, its design reminded Anakin of the Jedi Archives in the Temple. Stepping forwards, he walked towards one of the computers.

"Who are you?" a voice demanded from behind him.

Anakin spun around and saw what must be the database supervisor standing there, pointing a blaster at him. The supervisor stared at him for a moment and then did a double take, lowering the blaster.

"Wait… I know you," he said. "You look familiar."

"Yeah, well…" Anakin ran a hand through his hair. "I'm in maintenance. Just doing a bit of inspection in the… ah… air ducts—"

The blaster rose again. "That's not it," the database supervisor interrupted. His eyes narrowed and then widened. "Hang on, you're Anakin Skywalker! How the hell—"

He stopped talking when Anakin summoned the blaster from his hand.

"For the record, I don't like having blasters pointed at me, thanks," he said coldly. "I'm here because I'm looking for something. It's best that you don't interrupt me."

The supervisor's expression had hardened. "You're a fugitive," he spat.

Anakin snorted. "Not my fault, blame your Emperor."

"I can call security," he warned.

"Yeah, you could do that," Anakin answered. "But I'm not going to let you." He raised a hand and used the Force to send the supervisor flying backwards into the wall. The man slid to the floor, knocked out cold. Anakin looked at him for a moment. "Sorry," he apologized, and turned to the nearest computer.

Several minutes later, Anakin's hand slammed into the desk, emphasizing his frustration. He was locked out of the database. An access code was required to get to the files he needed, and the person who knew them was out cold and wouldn't wake up for a couple hours.

Anakin swore loudly. He drew back from the monitor, thinking of what he could do. There was no one else in the archive room. He could try to contact someone else in the complex, pretending to be the database supervisor and get the access code from them…

As he tried to find a way out of the situation, he turned and caught sight of a droid making its way down one of the long rows of holodiscs.

A droid.

Anakin grinned.

Problem solved.

Slipping behind the droid and deactivating it was easy enough. Working with what he had on him was not. But Anakin's knowledge of droids and their programming was efficient to allow him to get what he wanted. After sabotaging the droid to respond to his commands, he reactivated it. After instructing it to insert the access code for the database computers, Anakin felt a certain amount of relief. He was back on track.

The droid sorted through the information, searching for what Anakin needed. He waited, trying to be patient. Finally, the droid blurted out in its electronic voice, "4-2-9-3-7-6-7."

"Let me see that," Anakin said, motioning for the droid to move aside. It did as it was told and wandered away as Anakin peered at the monitor. He scanned through the information to verify that it was correct and that the droid hadn't made any mistakes. Satisfied, Anakin raised a hand to tap his comm and speak to Obi-Wan and Kyp. They would soon have Jaina out of there.

He froze.

Slowly, Anakin lowered his hand, his eyes scanning over the title to a small segment that was linked to the page that gave access code for the cellblock Jaina was supposed to be in.

_17:1:8 Cellblock K-066 Jedi Captives _

_Prisoners K-8097, K-8098 and K-8099 transferred to Kuduran Prison. _

A bad feeling was creeping up on him. The date was a week ago. When he had sliced into Desolation Alley's records, they had detailed that there were only three Jedi being held here. If this was true… they were no longer here.

Anakin opened the file and read the details.

_By Imperial request, prisoners K-8097, K-8098 and K-8099 have been transferred to the Hoth system prison, the complex known as Kuduran, as of 17:1:8. The purpose is for further interrogation into the acts of the Jedi against the Emperor._

Gritting his teeth, Anakin opened the files on the three Jedi prisoners, quickly scanning them.

_K-8097. J'oopi Shé. Male Nikto. Jedi Knight. _

_K-8098. Iwo Kulka. Male Ho'Din. Jedi Knight. _

_K-8099. Sian Jeisel. Female Devaronian. Jedi Master. _

There was no mention of Jaina at all.

_Hell._

They had come all this way, yet it had all been for nothing. Jaina wasn't being kept here. They were at the wrong prison. How many weeks had they spent preparing to break into Desolation Alley and rescue her? How much time had now been wasted? Now, they were back at the start with no idea where she was being kept. And while they continued to search for her, Jaina would continue to be at Palpatine's mercy.

His fingers clenched into fists. Frustration and anger were burning within Anakin now. He pounded his fist once again on the desk, seething at the pointlessness of their mission here.

And they still had to get out.

Anakin reached up to turn on his comm and contact Obi-Wan, but once again he stopped. He re-read the files on the prisoners. These were Jedi he knew. They were no longer imprisoned here, but they _were_ being held captive elsewhere. Kuduran.

The name gave him chills.

_The purpose is for further interrogation…_

Anakin clenched his teeth. _Further interrogation…_ further torture was more like it. But why be transferred all the way to the Hoth system? In fact… Anakin's eyes narrowed. _Why_ was there a prison in the Hoth system? He had never heard of Kuduran. Surely the Empire hadn't had enough time to build an entire prison complex in the months since it came to power. If there were Jedi there, it was worth investigating. Shé, Kulka and Jeisel probably were not the only Jedi being imprisoned there. It was impossible to know how many had been taken captive and how many had been killed during Order 66. Now that he knew that they were being held there, Anakin knew that at some point he would have to rescue them. It was his duty as a Jedi.

And if Jaina was in Kuduran, it made it even more important.

Anakin opened the file on Kuduran and began to read. His eyes scanned the information, looking for any hints – anything at all – that would give him a clue as to whether or not Jaina was being held captive there as well. _Located in the Hoth asteroid belt…_ Rather odd, not to mention dangerous, place to have a building. _Prison warden, Ursel Isard… _The name wasn't familiar. _Experimental base looking to further medical science… _whatever that meant—

_Wait a second… what the hell? _Anakin leaned closer and re-read the information again. He frowned. _Why the hell would they have a science research lab in a prison – in HOTH?!_

He froze.

Unless they were using the prisoners as experiments. He glanced at an abbreviated list of the prisoners and their profiles and his suspicions were confirmed.

They were all Jedi.

Palpatine was funding research _on_ Jedi.

There was sick feeling growing in his stomach. That did it. They needed to go to Kuduran. Whatever Palpatine was doing, he had to be stopped. The more Anakin thought about it, the more it made sense that Jaina was most likely kept captive there along with all the other Jedi. Even if she wasn't, Anakin had a moral obligation to free his fellow Jedi Knights.

Anakin tapped his comlink. There appeared to be clear reception now that he was out of the air ducts.

"Obi-Wan? Kyp?"

He waited a moment. Obi-Wan's low voice came through the comm.

"_Anakin, we're almost at the cellblock. Do you have the access codes?"_

"Yes," he replied. "Something's happened, though."

"_What is it?"_ Kyp demanded. _"Is Jaina…"_ His voice trailed off.

"She's not here," Anakin said, his voice a dead weight. "She never was here. We were wrong. I was wrong."

"_What?"_ Obi-Wan exclaimed.

"_If she's not here, then where the hell is she?"_

"I've got a new lead," Anakin told them quickly. "It's a place in the—"

_BANG!_

Anakin's Force-enhanced reflexes allowed him to react just in time. He felt the blaster bolt coming before he heard the sound. He threw himself to one side, landing on the floor and rolling back up on his feet. The computer he had been using was hit and burst into flames.

"_Anakin, what was—"_

Anakin ignored his comlink and stared at his attacker. It was the droid he had reprogrammed. Apparently, it had some override to what he had placed in it. It was standing by the entrance to the archive room, its arm that contained a built-in blaster extended in his direction.

"You have no authorization to be here," its electronic, monotone voice said. "You are an intruder. Security has been called."

As it finished its sentence, alarms went off.

Anakin sighed. "Well, that's just _great."_

"You will be dealt with immediately," the droid continued.

"_Right,"_ Anakin said sarcastically. "Of course. I'll just stand here and let myself be shot at."

"That is correct. You are advised not to move."

He sighed. "Why can't they make droids that don't pull the same trick _every single time?"_

Faster than the droid could react, Anakin drew his lightsaber out from its hiding place and ignited it. The droid shot at him, but the blaster bolt bounced off the humming blade. It rebounded on the droid, causing it to burst into flames. The droid malfunctioned and toppled over, useless.

Anakin turned to make his escape just as he heard voices – both human and droid – behind the door to the archives. He swore; it sounded like there were a lot of them. Possibly too many for him to handle when he didn't know where he was going. There was only one way out of this – back into the air ducts.

He deactivated his lightsaber and ran across the room, jumping and grabbing hold of the edge of the hole in the wall. He pulled himself up and climbed in, disappearing just as the guards and droids broke into the room.

"Where is he?"

"Where did he go?"

Anakin began crawling forward as fast as he could.

"Sir! Look!"

"He came in through the air ducts?"

"Must have."

"Send the droids in; they'll catch him."

"Yes, sir."

Anakin reached the first corner and turned, taking the way he thought he came. He didn't have time to check the datapad; he would have to rely on his instincts.

Behind him, he heard the sound of droids crawling into the air ducts after him.

_Oh, hell._

* * *

"Anakin?!" Obi-Wan shouted into his comlink. "Anakin, what's going on?"

He heard Anakin's voice, but he couldn't make out what he was saying. The sound of blaster fire and a lightsaber's hum came through the com for a moment, then nothing but static.

Obi-Wan looked at Kyp.

"We need to go back," he said.

"What do you think happened?" Kyp asked as they traced their way back down the corridor.

"I don't know," Obi-Wan answered. "Something snuck up on him."

They rounded a corner and skidded to a halt. Kyp swore.

They had come face to face with at least a dozen guards. All of them were armed.

"So," there leader said. "These are the Jedi who managed to infiltrate this base. General Kenobi," he said, addressing Obi-Wan, "you and your companion must put down your weapons. You are wanted criminals and are under arrest for treason against the Empire. You will be taken into custody. Do not try to resist."

Obi-Wan glanced at Kyp and they drew their lightsabers simultaneously.

"Oh, I don't think so," Obi-Wan replied. "I guess I should have done a better job at disguising myself." He ignited his saber. A moment later, Kyp's crimson blade also sprang to life.

The guards opened fire.

The blue and crimson lightsabers weaved their way through the onslaught of red blaster bolts. Though well trained, the prison guards were no match for two Jedi. Obi-Wan and Kyp sliced their way through their attackers, using their sabers to deflect blaster fire and slice through their enemies' weapons, rendering them defenceless. Once they were on the other side, they sprinted down the corridor, flying around the next corner.

Behind them they count hear the sounds of clattering feet. Alarm bells began ringing. The entire prison had been alerted to their presence.

"Where do you think Anakin is?" Kyp asked as they ran.

"Trapped somewhere in the air ducts," Obi-Wan answered. "That would explain why we have no connection with his comlink."

They came to the end of a corridor; it intersected with one running perpendicular to it. Blaster fire flew down the hallway and Kyp and Obi-Wan fell back, backtracking along the hall and choosing a different route.

"At least there's one good thing about that," Kyp said.

"And what would that be?"

They stopped running and slowed to a halt. They had reached a dead end. Guards were nearing them; they had no choice but to go by them to get out.

Kyp turned and glanced at Obi-Wan. "I rather doubt that any of these guards would be able to crawl through the air ducts after him."

* * *

Anakin wiped sweat off his brow as he forced his way through the air duct. The droids were closing in on him. He had managed to keep just ahead of them, so he had avoided igniting his lightsaber in this enclosed space. But soon he would have no choice.

He was getting tired. His skin, coated with sweat, felt sticky and hot. Crawling through the dark with hardly any room to manoeuvre was no mean feat. He should have attempted to get out of the archive room by fighting through the guards at the door. He was trapped here and his fighting skills were extremely diminished when he had no room to move.

_Tap, tap, tap. _The sound of mechanical arms and legs scurrying forwards on the metal floor of the air duct was getting louder. Anakin drew a deep breath. It was hot in these tunnels. It was getting hard to breath. He tried to launch himself forwards, keep himself moving, but he found that he couldn't. He just couldn't continue crawling through this space. There was no room. The walls were closing in on him; he would go insane if he had to spend another moment in here.

Snarling, he awkwardly and slowly turned himself around so he would be able to face his attackers. If he didn't get out of here alive… what a remarkable story that would be to tell. Anakin Skywalker, the Hero With No Fear, killed by _battle droids_ in an _air duct._

It would be the most embarrassing, unheroic death in the history of the Galaxy.

Extending his lightsaber out in front of him, he ignited it. The blade shot out, illuminating the dark tunnel with its blue light. Breathing deeply, trying to ignore how hot it was getting within the air duct, he waited for the droids to come.

The first blaster bolt shot forwards and hit his lightsaber directly on its tip. The shot rebounded, hitting the droid that had fired it and disabling it. Anakin smiled shortly. Perhaps all he had to do was lie here, his lightsaber ignited, and wait while blaster bolt after blaster bolt deflected off his blade.

A shot grazed his shoulder. He winced in pain.

Then again, maybe that was the worst thing he could do.

He blinked as another bolt hit his blade, this one closer to his face. Sparks from the impact shot into his face and he closed his eyes as the bolt rebounded, hitting the side of the tunnel. The droids continued their slow advance.

Anakin waited. There was nothing he could do now except to hold them off as long as he could. He was trapped. He clenched his teeth.

He hated not being able to do anything. He was handicapped without space to manoeuvre. He hated being here. His anger and frustration was building inside him, almost matching the rising temperature within the tunnel. Anakin closed his eyes, using the Force to direct his lightsaber to the best position to deflect the blaster bolts. A shot ricocheted and hit the wall, a little to close for comfort – the impact showered him with sparks.

_I am _not_ going to die in here like this. I am not._

His breathing slowed. He searched the Force, searched his mind for something to help his situation. Anything. His growing frustration and anger burned within him.

Suddenly, a window in his mind opened. A knowledge that he had never known – yet had somehow always been there – hit him with its full power. Without knowing what he was doing, Anakin seized it and fuelled all his energies into it. The power grew, and at his command, was released at his enemies.

White light burst around him.

* * *

The explosion happened just as Obi-Wan and Kyp had turned to face the guards coming towards them. There was a tremor in the Force, something that nearly physically shook both the Jedi. Then, several feet away from them, the ceiling shattered with an ear-splitting noise, and came clattering down upon them in chunks of broke and twisted metal. Showering down after the initial amount came was looked peculiarly like broken droid parts – and an all-too familiar person.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan said. _How like him,_ he thought. _Perfect timing, of course._ A smile that had formed on his lips faded.

How had Anakin caused the ceiling to collapse?

Anakin rose to his feet, standing in the rubble, his expression slightly disoriented as he clasped a hand to his head. When he opened his eyes, he did a double take.

"Obi-Wan?"

"I guess we've finally had some luck," Obi-Wan commented.

"Not exactly," Kyp said. He raised his lightsaber.

Anakin spun around and saw the advancing guards, all of whom continued approaching even though they looked thoroughly shell-shocked at what had just happened. He ignited his lightsaber.

"I am _tired_ of being shot at," he hissed and launched himself towards their attackers.

An explosion of light illuminated the corridor as the Jedi fought to get past the guards. Ducking and deflecting blaster bolts, they continued on their way to find a corridor that would lead them back to the docking bay. Anakin was in the lead as they sprinted down the hallway, the guards trying to follow them, despite that the majority of their weapons had been dismembered by the swinging lightsabers.

"Anakin, how did you manage that?" Obi-Wan demanded.

His friend shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure what I did." He glanced over his shoulder as a new platoon of soldiers came down the hallway after them. "Never mind that now, _run!"_

They ran.

Desolation Alley was a maze of sorts. The Jedi stopped briefly to get their bearings once they knew there was enough distance between them and the guards. Anakin still had the datapad; he withdrew it to examine where they were and the fastest route back to the docking bay. Once they found it, they continued running. Alarms rang in every hallway, the sound pounding into their ears.

"Where did R2 go?" Anakin demanded as they rounded the final corner and sprinted down the hallway towards the entrance to the docking bay.

"What?" Obi-Wan asked. Suddenly, he realized that the little astromech droid was not with them. Obi-Wan could not remember the last time he has seen R2. "I… don't know."

Anakin grunted. "That idiot droid. This is not a time to go sight-seeing—"

He broke off suddenly as bands of light exploded around them from the ceiling. They slid to a stop.

"Funny," Kyp growled. "Ray shields."

"Just our luck," Anakin grunted.

"We should have known better," Obi-Wan said.

"This is not my day at all," Anakin muttered. "Getting caught was not on the plan. Neither was fighting in air ducts."

"Where's Artoo when you need him?" Kyp added as he shook his head, his voice exasperated.

A door to their right retracted. They turned to see who was coming through – and exchanged looks when they saw R2-D2 sail in, twerping and beeping to himself. The sounds of marching feet echoed down the corridor as R2 looked for the controls for the ray shields. Plugging himself into a computer terminal, he deactivated the ray shields and sailed off down the corridor.

The Jedi ran after him.

"You know," Anakin said, "I don't think I've ever been quite so happy to see him."

R2 beeped happily.

"Thanks, Artoo."

Minutes later, the Jedi burst into the docking bay and ran towards their ship. Obi-Wan reached out with the Force and brought down the ramp before they even got there. Behind them, the guards were arriving. The alarms were still ringing. Blaster fire shot across the docking bay as the Jedi hurried onto their ship and closed the ramp.

Anakin threw himself down in the pilot's chair. He didn't bother taking the time to strap himself in. Desolation Alley was surrounded by energy shields; those shields were being closed right now. If they wanted to escape, they had to act immediately. He fired up the engines and pulled the ship into the air. As they zoomed towards space, the docking bay was being closed down. Metal barriers that would seal it off were rapidly shooting closed; Anakin urged the ship forwards. They made it just in time.

However, it wasn't over yet.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan warned, "the energy shields—"

"I know," he said, his voice flat.

The energy shields were closing fast. There was only one opening left, and it was growing smaller by the minute. They were not going to make it.

Suddenly, the Force exploded as an immense power took control of it. The last gap in the energy shield did not close. The Jedi's ship continued to shoot towards it. Obi-Wan glanced at Anakin – _he_ was the one controlling it. He had somehow managed to use to the Force to hold the energy shield back. His eyes were closed as he concentrated, somehow managing to pilot at the same time.

A moment later they were through.

Anakin's eyes snapped open and his grip on the shields dissolved. The gap behind them closed and they shot off into the vacuum of space. Quickly, Anakin brought up his intended destination on the navchart, calculating the coordinates. A moment later, they disappeared into hyperspace.

Anakin collapsed back in his chair, breathing heavily. He looked exhausted. He closed his eyes.

They were silent for quite some time.

"Where are we going?" Obi-Wan finally asked.

Anakin still had his eyes closed. For a moment, Obi-Wan thought he had fallen asleep. But then he finally spoke.

"Hoth," he murmured. "We're going to Hoth."

"You said that Jaina wasn't in Desolation Alley," Kyp said. "Is she at Hoth?"

"There's a…" Anakin took a breath. He wiped sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. "There's a prison called… a place called Kuduran built in the asteroid belt in the Hoth system. The Jedi that had been imprisoned in Desolation Alley were transferred there. I looked into it, and found that _all_ the prisoners there are Jedi."

"And Jaina?" Kyp's voice was cold.

"I don't… I don't know for sure," Anakin answered. "But… I have a hunch… that she's there." He took several deep, slow breaths and opened his eyes. He sat up straight in his chair. "I'm sure that she's there," he continued. "But… but even if she isn't and we have to keep looking, we still have to rescue the other Jedi that are imprisoned there. Kuduran is also an experimental research facility. They're experimenting on the Jedi."

Obi-Wan froze. "What?"

"That's what the archives said." Anakin looked away. "I don't know how Kuduran even came to exist or what Palpatine's plan behind all this is, but that's not the point. We've got to get them out of there, no matter what."

Obi-Wan leaned back in his chair. "I've never heard of a prison called Kuduran."

"I think it's new," Anakin said. "Palpatine must have built it somehow after the rise of his Empire."

Kyp was frowning. "But there never was a prison in Hoth's asteroid belt in the future," he murmured.

"There wasn't?" Anakin asked. He looked perplexed.

"Maybe your past's Palpatine didn't build it," Obi-Wan mused, "but _this_ Palpatine has. Perhaps that would explain it."

"Perhaps…"

Anakin clenched his fists. "It doesn't matter. Once we rescue Jaina and the other Jedi, I'll make Palpatine pay for what he's done."

They fell into silence again. All three Jedi were exhausted after the mayhem they had caused. Kyp excused himself from the cockpit as he wanted to catch some sleep before arriving at Kuduran. Anakin had closed his eyes again and appeared as though he was sleeping in the pilot's chair, too tired to move elsewhere.

Obi-Wan sat still. There were so many things that did not match up, so many new developments that were altering the course of events. However, the thing that concerned him the most was not Kuduran and the information Anakin had discovered about it, but Anakin himself. He had displayed a phenomenal amount of power at Desolation Alley. First there was the explosion in the air ducts and then there was his control of the energy shields.

This worried Obi-Wan. He could not be sure what this meant for Anakin. Indeed, he was a very powerful Jedi, but this display… he had never done anything like that before. Was there something happening to him? Had he awoken powers he had never tested?

"Anakin…"

He stopped himself. There would be a time for questions later. Once they found Kuduran and completed their mission, returning to the _Tantive IV_ with Jaina, they would be able to concentrate on Anakin's sudden immense power. For now, he did not need to be worried by it.

Anakin had enough on his mind at the moment. As of this moment, it was best to just let him sleep.


	47. Krayt

**CHAPTER XLVII**

**Krayt**

The girl's head was lowered, her chin almost touching her chest. Her eyes were closed, but her teeth were gritted together, her upper lip curled into a snarl. Her fists – one flesh and blood, the other a metallic replacement – were clenching the sides of the chair to which she was strapped in. Her small form was shivering from the cold; she was still wet from her recent sojourn in the torture chamber. Bruises and lacerations marked her pale exposed skin, forming an intricate and ugly pattern over her arms, legs and face.

It had been two weeks since Jaina Solo had been brought to Kuduran for interrogation and observation. The entire complex had been designed solely for this purpose. She could serve his master in so many ways; the events that transpired here could very well be the pivot point in everything Sidious had been working towards. In many ways, Solo was now much more important to Sidious' plans than the Chosen One had ever been.

She did not belong in this time. Because of this, Solo retained a formidable knowledge that could very well damage their plans beyond repair. In addition, she had been traveling with the only ones who had the power to turn the people of the Galaxy against the Empire. And she knew the Chosen One better than even Sidious had. If they could predict the movements of their enemies, they would be unstoppable. Darth Sidious and Darth Krayt would rise, gaining total galactic dominion.

This plan had been entirely of Sidious' design, and Krayt was merely playing his part. He had been assigned by his master to the Kuduran prison, to keep an eye on Solo and prepare her for Sidious' return from Coruscant. When his master arrived at the prison, the final stages of Solo's imprisonment here would commence. Either her spirit would be broken and she would join with Sidious to aid him in his fight against the Chosen One, or she would succumb to the effects of the alien substance flowing in her veins. There was only one treatment for that poison, and Sidious would only administer it if Solo continued to be of use to him.

This fiction was a beautiful lie. Where Solo was concerned, Krayt had no doubt that it was the truth – but that _he_ would remain at Sidious' side and receive a taste of that power wielded over the Galaxy could never be a truth. Krayt knew full well – as he always had – that he was merely a stepping stone to greater power. He was someone to fall back on in case the plan failed. Sidious was shrewd and cunning; no part of a plan was overlooked. There was always some backup he could use in case of deviations. Krayt had known his master long enough that he knew exactly how Sidious worked. It was not difficult to figure out that as soon as Solo's spirit was broken and she fell to the dark side, Krayt would be disposed of and replaced by Solo herself.

The thought enraged him. If she took his place… no. He would fix it so that she never would. Jaina Solo was of Skywalker blood. The filth of the Galaxy, descended from slaves, hardly worthy of the fame and power they had. In their days together at the temple and as Jedi Knights, it had been _Anakin _who had always come out on top, _Anakin_ who had always bettered him at everything. Skywalker had thwarted him in everything he had ever attempted – except the one thing that had changed the course of his future. Krayt had become Sidious' apprentice. That had led him to the secrets of the dark side and a life-altering experience that gave him powers and talents that would benefit him for the rest of his life.

Skywalker did not. And he would never again have that chance. Krayt had been given a gift – the life Skywalker was supposed to have, but the same one he had rejected. Certainly, Krayt would not allow Skywalker's time travelling _granddaughter_ to steal that life away from him. The Skywalkers had missed their chance to find eternal power when the "Chosen One" refused to join Sidious. Krayt was grateful for that – had Anakin Skywalker not turned his back on the dark side, Krayt would never have seen the truth. He would not be who he was, he would not have this power, this strength.

He would still be the Jedi known as A'Sharad Hett, locked away in Kuduran after he investigated too far into Chancellor Palpatine's affairs. No doubt that had Skywalker accepted Sidious' offer, Krayt would have died along with all the other Jedi when Sidious set out to exterminate them.

If Solo was broken, Krayt knew that there was no chance for him being left alive. Sidious would kill him, one way or another. Sidious followed the foolish Rule of Two, but he had also taught Krayt too much. Krayt's knowledge was expansive. He knew the secret of time travel. While he was under Sidious' grip, Sidious was not threatened by it. But once Solo was ready to take Krayt's place…

Anger burned through his veins. He was grateful that he had been shown the truth of what the dark side really was, and that he was no longer afraid to use it. The ways of the Sith were much more valuable than those of the Jedi. Even though Sidious was responsible for this outcome, it did not change Krayt's unyielding hatred for the man. It was Sidious who had given him this life. It was Sidious who had made him who he was. It was Sidious who had let him rot in hell a thousand times, die a thousand deaths at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong until he saw fit to bring him back. Though Sidious had shown him a path to enlightenment and had taught him to ally himself with the dark side, Krayt could never forgive him for what he had done – or what he was going to do. If Sidious had his way, he would replace Krayt with Solo and that would be the end.

It was impossible for Krayt to openly turn his back against his master while he was still under his grip, but Krayt was doing everything in his power to break down Sidious' plans from within. If his master could truly foresee the future, he would never have put Krayt in control of Kuduran in his absence. Krayt knew Sidious' entire plan and thus it was easy to destroy. His master had intended to allow Skywalker into the complex at a specific time in order for the Chosen One to face down Sidious' new creation – a Jaina Solo who wielded the powers of the dark side – and thus use Skywalker's granddaughter to bring about his downfall. The man was too emotionally connected to his family. It was his weakness and Sidious knew it. Target any of his family members and Skywalker would be vulnerable. The impact of seeing his granddaughter joined with his ultimate nemesis would be enough to break open his shields. While Skywalker was weakened, Sidious could strike and be rid of the one danger to his Empire forever.

It was an ingenious plan, but Krayt had twisted it in order to take it one step further – one step that would damage _both _Skywalker and Sidious, thus placing the game in Krayt's favour. Solo was strong and the one thing she needed to keep herself going, to continue to have hope was to have a friend, a fellow Jedi, another prisoner she could talk to. Krayt disguised himself with his old identity of A'Sharad Hett and placed himself in the cell beside Solo's. Under the name of Hett, he had befriended her, attempted to comfort her and keep her holding on to some kind of hope – but only just. It would not be beneficial to his plans to have her entirely whole, not to mention it would be questionable when his master returned to find that his high-priority prisoner had no signs of a broken spirit at all. Krayt decided upon arguing with Solo, and releasing certain secrets about Kuduran as well as telling her that there was no hope of escape to convince at least part of her that there was no hope for her at all.

And it worked. While Krayt was command in her torture and interrogation, his guise as Hett provided just enough of the right thing for Solo to keep in control of herself. This was only one part of Krayt's plan.

He knew that Skywalker would be searching for his granddaughter. There were several places Skywalker would target, and Krayt knew that Desolation Alley would be one of them. While slipping into any of the Empire's high-security prisons would not be easy, Krayt knew that a man of Skywalker's talents would have no trouble finding a way into the prison on Oovo IV. He planted information in the prison records that could easily be sliced into by Skywalker, information that would lead him to Desolation Alley. Then, once Skywalker was in the prison, information that could not be accessed except from within the prison archives were left to lead him to Kuduran. The prison in the Hoth asteroid belt could not be made known to the public, of course, so Krayt knew that he would have to go through the extended step of bringing Skywalker to a place where he could find that data first.

Skywalker had already visited Desolation Alley, that Krayt knew. The prison had released an alert, one that Krayt was only too happy to cancel, telling the prison warden and his subordinates that the infiltrators had been dealt with. He did not need anyone looking into what Skywalker had done at Desolation Alley; it could be traced. Krayt had also deleted the information that Skywalker had uncovered. Now, it was only a matter of time before he arrived at Kuduran – which would be around the same time Sidious would be returning from Coruscant. When he did, Sidious would find an unbroken Solo who would then be useless to him. He would also find an angry Skywalker, who no doubt would want revenge for what had been done to his granddaughter. Sidious would have no choice but to fight the Chosen One and the subsequent battle would end with both their deaths, leaving Krayt as the sole Sith and able to take control and assume his place as leader of the galaxy. He knew the prophecies well enough. The inevitable battle between the ultimate representatives of light and dark would end in the destruction of both.

Even if on the offchance that Skywalker and Sidious somehow survived, both would be so weakened by the fight that it would be easy enough to finish them off. As for Solo… the results of her ongoing tests were clear enough. Without proper treatment for the midichlorian-derived poison the medics had been administering to her, she would die soon enough. No one knew the antidote except Sidious and himself. Death was what she deserved. She was a Skywalker by blood. Perhaps that was why he did not mind continuing the task Sidious had given him – interrogating her. The pain she felt from the torture or the poison flowing through her body was nothing compared to what Sidious had put _him_ through. It was time the Skywalkers shared the same fate as everyone else.

Krayt's eyes flashed at his captive. She was refusing to look at him, though there was still that familiar Skywalker stubbornness about her. Even though she was reacting exactly as he wanted her to, Krayt was impressed with how she was holding out. The poison – dubbed "treatment" by Sidious' medics, who were no more than scientists looking to experiment on captured Jedi – had been enough to break, and in some cases, kill the Jedi it had been administered before. Solo was somehow different. She fought against the poison, she endured the torture inflicted on her body. She refused to answer any questions during interrogation. The only change he had noted was that at first she struggled to spit out insults; now she merely stayed silent. Inside her cell, she showed Hett her fragility that she would never show Krayt, but even then she endured. As the weeks progressed, he still would speak to her, but she retreated more and more within herself. However, the face she presented when outside her cell was enough to tell him that her spirit was not breaking.

He frequently felt frustrated when speaking to her, either in her cell as Hett or here as her interrogator. There were many sides to her, as he had discovered, and she was difficult to understand in these circumstances.

"Why don't you just kill me?" a low voice snarled.

Solo slowly raised her head and glared at him. It was the first time she had spoken today, and her voice was hoarse from the lack of speech. There was no fear in her expression, though something in her eyes resembled a seething hatred. This was not the first time she had given him this look. Her hatred for him was something he could appreciate, as he was doing to her something very similar to what Sidious had done to him. The circumstances were just different enough and Solo was so very unwilling to turn her anger into fuel for her power that the results would be drastically different.

It was a pity that she benefited his plans better dead. Perhaps, given a different set of circumstances, she could be useful to him. He could easily see why she had been targeted by his master – apart from being Skywalker's flesh and blood from another time, she was much more open with her emotions than the Jedi of this time. She let her passions run wild – in a fashion quite similar to Skywalker. Yet even with these qualities she still rejected the dark side. Though the ysalamiri Sidious had installed in the building prevented either of them from feeling the Force, Krayt did not need it to tell that she refused the dark side.

For a moment, he wondered what would happen if he lifted the barrier and removed the ysalamiri from Kuduran. He was tempted to see Solo in battle; no doubt, she would be a dangerous enemy. Severely weakened though she was, if the Force was returned to her there was no telling what she could do. Solo would probably attempt to escape the first chance she got if the Force was returned to her. Krayt hated being blinded, but he had to admit that his master was wise to implement the ysalamiri to keep Solo in check.

Furthermore, without the Force the battle between Sidious and Skywalker would be very interesting to watch. Deprived of their Force abilities, it was impossible to say which direction the battle would take once it began.

"Palpatine would have realized by now that I'm no use to him," Solo continued, bringing him out of his thoughts. Krayt glanced at her again. She was breathing shallowly, evidently in a fair amount of pain.

_It is nothing compared to what I was forced through,_ he thought. _It is nothing compared to what I endured for ten years at the hands of my captors._

He returned to what Solo had said. He smiled. Solo was blind. She had a vague idea of what Sidious had in mind for her when he captured her and brought her to Kuduran, but she could not grasp the gigantic scope his plans had. How could she? She had not even discovered that _he_ was Hett. Of course, he was grateful that she had not figured out the link as it was crucial to his plan that she kept the two separate, but at the same time it felt almost obvious that A'Sharad Hett and Darth Krayt were the same man.

There was no possible way she could fathom what lay ahead for her.

"You are wrong in that regard," he answered, finally speaking.

Solo raised an eyebrow. "And if I continue to refuse to answer your questions? What will he do then?" She watched him for a reaction. When he gave none, she spoke again. "Though answers aren't what Palpatine wants from me. He's trying to do to me what he must have done to you, only in a different way."

Krayt's fingers clenched into fists. What did she mean by this? Their separate ordeals were in no way on the same level.

"How so?" He spoke through gritted teeth.

She nodded in his direction, unable to point as both her arms her strapped to her chair. "Your left eye," she hissed. "Your arm. They belong to the Yuuzhan Vong, don't they?"

He froze. Whatever he had been expecting, this had not been it.

How could this girl now anything about the alien race he had been sent to in order to learn a valuable lesson that changed him forever?

The Yuuzhan Vong… his teachers and his torturers. Sidious had sent him into their grasp and they had taught him what only they could teach. Their bizarre outlook on life – and pain and suffering – had led him to this path. They had helped to form who he was… at a great price and endless self-sacrifice.

Solo was the first to connect him with the Yuuzhan Vong since he returned to this time.

"I'm right, aren't I?" She raised her head and met his eyes. "I should have recognized them the first time I saw you. Tell me, did you accept them freely or were you merely the plaything of the shapers?"

A low, guttural hiss escaped him. "How are _you_ so knowledgeable of the Yuuzhan Vong?"

Her eyes flashed dangerously. "I've spent more time with them than I would have liked. And members of my family even more so. I fought a war against them, I know their ways. So if you weren't one of their shapers' experiments, why are willingly wearing their attachments?"

He could feel his hatred for her perceptiveness burning through him. It took every effort to keep himself from launching at her and attacking her. Instead, his human left arm gripped his right, the one that had been replaced by the Yuuzhan Vong shapers while he had been their captive.

"You… know… _nothing."_ It took much effort to spit the words out. "Whatever knowledge you say you have of the Yuuzhan Vong, little girl, is nothing. I spent ten years in captivity with them. These replacements of the arm and the eye I lost in a battle are constant reminders of what I have gone through to gain enlightenment. My knowledge. My power."

Solo's expression hardened. "You met Vergere – didn't you." It was not a question.

The mention of the hated name was enough to break Krayt's hold on himself. Solo was looking for answers, answers he would very well give her since she desired them so much. She was too intelligent for her own good – and he would have to kill her afterwards.

His left hand closed around her throat. She reacted instantly, struggling against her bonds as she tried to find a way to release his grip. She stared up at him, her brown eyes wild. His grip tightened. She choked. It would be ever so easy to kill her right now and be done with it…

_No._

Control snapped back into place and he released her. She gasped for breath, coughing as she fell forwards, her body straining against her bonds. She raised her head, staring up at him, a question burning in her eyes.

_Not yet,_ he told himself. _She can't die yet. You still have a use for her._

The door to the chamber slid open unexpectedly.

Krayt turned, seething at being disturbed. "What is it?" he snapped.

Ursel Isard stepped into the chamber, leaving several prison guards at the door. The only leading female officer employed at Kuduran, she was Krayt's second-in-command. The sister of Sidious' newly appointed Director of Imperial Intelligence, she was cold-hearted and cruel. It was only fitting that she would find her place here. Krayt had no particular fondness for her, but she did her job well and that was what mattered.

"I am instructed to take Solo back to her cell," she announced. "The Emperor has returned. He requests your presence immediately, my Lord."

Krayt froze.

_Now?_

It was too soon. Skywalker had better be on his way, or else Krayt would be forced to take drastic measures and kill Solo before Sidious ever had a chance of personally corrupting her further. Though Solo was strong and Krayt was sure of his plan, Sidious had returned earlier than expected. Now that he was back, it was difficult to say how far he would go to see Solo become his next apprentice.

"Of course," Krayt said, disguising any hints of the uneasiness summoned by the news of his master's return. Things would not be easy now. He would have to be very careful not to alert Sidious is any way to his true plan. He did not want to fight his master head-on in a battle. Though Krayt had learned many of his secrets Sidious was too powerful.

The prophecies said only Skywalker could defeat him.

Krayt swept out of the room, leaving Solo to Isard's tender care, and headed towards his master's chambers. No doubt he would be walking on a precarious line for the next several days until Skywalker showed up and matters were dealt with accordingly.

* * *

Kuduran had been built on an asteroid, and thus its infrastructure was limited in several ways. Windows were not very practical, nor wanted, as there was nothing of particular interest to see except the immense expanse of space. Darth Sidious, however, did not think like the majority of the people who populated the Galaxy. The chambers he had constructed for himself were vast. The main room, built in black, grey and silver, was dark as there was minimal light. Its design was evidently fashioned after the throne room in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. The most defining feature of the room was the window. Large and circular, it took up the entire wall behind Sidious' throne, displaying the terrifying immensity of endless space that was interrupted only by several asteroids as they slowly drifted past.

Darth Krayt had known his master for long enough to realize that the instalment of this window in his quarters reflected directly on Sidious' perception of himself and the Galaxy. Wherever he went, the Sith Lord would view the Galaxy as something he needed to conquer. The window reminded him of the greatness that was out there for him to overcome.

He was nearly there. He was close to winning. Soon, the entire Galaxy and every person living in it would be under his control.

It was a position Sidious did not deserve. Krayt smiled softly to himself as he stepped into the room. What glory awaited him when he took that power out from under Sidious and dethroned him, seizing control for himself. He savoured the thought, then quickly banished it. As they were located at the opposite end of the complex from the prison, Sidious' chambers were the only place in Kuduran that were not guarded by the ysalamiri. They were free to use the Force here. Barriers were erected in Krayt's mind. His master, no doubt, would be keeping a close eye on him.

Sidious was waiting patiently, seated on his throne, the back of the chair turned on the entrance to the chamber. Krayt approached slowly, mounting the steps one at a time before arriving on the same level as the throne. He knelt, as was expected.

"Master."

He spared a glance upwards to see the throne turn around. Sidious, robed in black, the hood of his cloak casting a shadow across his pale face, nodded curtly in the direction of his apprentice.

"Lord Krayt." Sidious observed him for a moment, his expression unreadable. "You may rise."

Krayt stood, silently watching his master as the old man stood and walked slowly towards the window, motioning with a hand for his apprentice to follow. Frail though he sometimes appeared, Sidious drew on the Force to sustain himself – just as Krayt did at times to keep his anger from getting out of hand. He was not weak. The power gifted to him by decades of study through time and space had turned Sidious into the most powerful being that ever lived. Krayt did not need a prophecy to tell him this – he could see it with his own eyes. That was why he needed Skywalker.

There were times when Krayt felt trapped, tied down by the forces of those more powerful than he. He was a piece in Sidious' grand Dejarik game, and he knew it. He had to stay focused. The time would come when the legendary figures of prophecy gifted with the mightiest powers known to Jedi and Sith alike would fall and he would be free to assume the place he deserved.

"You are preoccupied, Darth Krayt," Sidious said loftily from his position by the window. He glanced in Krayt's direction. "Are you not satisfied with your work here?"

"I… am, master," Krayt replied. His fingers clenched. He could feel his master's power presence searching for a weak link in his mind. He fought to defend himself, while maintaining calm. "It is… the girl," he said finally, quickly choosing a reason to give Sidious. "She troubles me."

"Is that so?" Sidious turned away, gazing out at the asteroid field beyond the window. In the darkness of the chamber, he was no more than a shadow. "I have found that Jaina Solo has that effect." His words were punctuated by a sharp jab in the Force. Krayt let out a surprised hiss; unexpected pain had accompanied the attack. He felt a weakness in his barriers appeared and quickly worked to repair it.

"What is it about her that troubles you so? Are the sessions not going well?"

"She…"

He closed his eyes as he felt another sharp jab thrown at his mind. He strengthened the shields, sweat beading his forehead from the effort, and threw the attack back at his master. It clashed uselessly against the shields protecting Sidious' mind. He would need a more concentrated attack to even dent his master's defences.

"She is stronger than we have thought."

Sidious sighed. "That is unsurprising. Will she break?"

"In time." Krayt focused, reaching out to the Force and harnessing its power, slowly building up an attack to throw at his master when Sidious least expected it. "Given time, she will falter."

"Perhaps." Sidious turned slightly to face Krayt. His yellow eyes narrowed dangerously.

A moment later, Krayt felt the full force of his master's mind waylay his own. Power surged through both of them as Sidious sought to defeat his apprentice and Krayt attempted to stop his master. The Force crackled electrically around them, burning with the effort each was using. A moment later, the power of Sidious' attack caused Krayt to falter, just for a moment. A small hole was punctured in his shields. Krayt clenched his fingers and wiped all thoughts from his mind as he brought up a new shield, throwing Sidious' mind from his.

Sith Lord stared at Sith Lord, neither willing to admit defeat.

"Well done, my apprentice," Sidious said softly.

Krayt snarled under his breath. He was about to speak when Sidious continued as if nothing had happened.

"I see that you have found an ingenious way of testing our prisoner," he said. "Posing as a fellow inmate, and using your old identity. How… extraordinary. I see some things can never be forgotten."

Krayt hissed. He could feel the anger burning through him now, anger directed towards both Sidious and Solo. Reaching out to the Force, he harnessed his anger, forcing himself to calm down, storing the power brought on by his intense hatred for later use.

His mind had only been exposed for a short amount of time. Less than a second. Sidious could have only seen half of the truth. Perhaps he did not know Krayt's real purpose behind his double act.

"Tell me about Solo."

"She still holds on to hope," Krayt said slowly. "She presents a different face to A'Sharad Hett than she does to Lord Krayt. Within the torture chamber, she is strong. She refuses to speak. Within her cell, she still will not speak of the information we seek, but she is not afraid to show her weaker side. She cries for herself."

Sidious did not look at his apprentice. He continued to contemplate whatever it was he could see within the vastness of the vacuum outside. "And Delik-66? What is her response to that?"

Krayt paused. "Master, she is the first human we have treated—"

"I am aware of the fact that her results will be different from the non-humans. Tell me her current situation." There was a dangerous edge to his voice as he spoke. Sidious' tone was one he used when he did not want his orders ignored.

"She is stable," Krayt said quietly. "For now. But soon the poison will engulf her and she will die the same way the others did. If you desire her to stand by your side in the coming months, you will have to tend to her yourself. She is weakening – and fast."

"Yet she shows a remarkable endurance," Sidious commented.

"Indeed, she does."

"It is unlike the others."

"Yes."

"What are your thoughts, Lord Krayt?"

Krayt shifted his weight, stepping forwards slightly. He would have to be very careful in how he answered.

"Perhaps it is because she has seen at least one part of the vortex."

Sidious made an indistinguishable noise. Turning and stepping past Krayt, he sat back down on his throne and spread his hands. "I understand your reasoning," he said. "I, too, have come to that conclusion, but my research has told me that there is more to it than that."

Krayt nodded. "Your sojourn on Coruscant went well, I take it."

"Of course," Sidious answered smoothly. "The Emperor cannot hide from his people in some remote part of the Galaxy. If I am to maintain their trust, I must show myself as a capable leader. Breha Organa's trial was critical for me to appear at."

Krayt paused. "And your other reasons for returning?"

"To inspect the construction of the greatest weapon the Galaxy will ever see," he answered. "One that will keep any thoughts of rebellion in check. A space station that can destroy planets. It is will underway, though it will be many years before it is operational. However, there are other ways to discourage rebels."

"Of course, master," Krayt said. Now that Sidious had finished congratulating himself on how remarkable a leader he was, Krayt felt that he could surely return to his work. He would need to prepare for Skywalker's arrival at Kuduran.

He turned to leave. The moment he took a step down the staircase, he felt Sidious' eyes on him, followed by the sheer force of his master's mind crashing against his own. Pain burned through him and he swung around, blinded by the presence trying to invade his thoughts. He reached out with the Force, seizing the attacking thought and following it back to his master's mind. For a moment, white light burst in his vision and he saw several blurred images flash before his eyes. Most predominantly, he saw a tall, cloaked figure standing in a dark room – before he could see it more clearly, the image vanished and Krayt felt his mind being forced back as Sidious closed his shields.

The master gave the apprentice a cold look.

"Your work is commendable, Lord Krayt," Sidious said, his voice callous. He spoke as if nothing had happened. "But I am afraid I must relieve you of your duty. I can manage Solo now. There is a new task I need you to complete."

Krayt's eyes flattened. He knew this scheme. As Sidious came closer to fulfilling his wish where Solo was concerned, no doubt he would dispatch Krayt on a mission he had deemed impossible so as to be rid of him, preventing him from influencing Solo in any way.

"And what would that be?" he hissed.

Sidious relaxed in his chair and casually folded his hands. "As you know," he began, "part of my work in Coruscant was to investigate the Jedi Archives on a certain man who has been my enemy for many years. He is the one who has the potential to bring down everything we have worked for."

"And who is this person?" Krayt asked, his tone indifferent.

"A Professor," Sidious answered. "That is the title he has given himself. He likes to think of himself as the greatest teacher ever to exist. His powers are phenomenal. He is known in this time only as Augustine."

"Augustine." There was something about the name Krayt did not like.

"No doubt you have noticed the likeness between his alias and my true name," Sidious added.

Perhaps that was the reason.

"You want me to find him for you," Krayt stated.

"No," Sidious answered.

Krayt acted quickly to hide his surprise. "Then what?"

"I want you to find him and bring him to me," Sidious hissed. His eyes had gone dark. "He is my responsibility and only I can receive pleasure in killing him at last. He is powerful and will be difficult to find. He knows the powers of time and is not afraid to use them, unlike some."

Interesting. Perhaps this Augustine could be an ally, if he hated Sidious as much as Sidious loathed him. If he tracked him down and convinced this professor to join his side, perhaps it would benefit Krayt in the long run.

It would be impossible to tell until he found the man and discovered who he was and where he stood in this chain of events.

"Where should I begin, then?" Krayt asked. "Tracing a time traveler is no mean feat."

"Mustafar, Korriban and Lok were three of his preferred planets when I knew him. However, my research has turned up several notes that point in a different direction." Sidious paused, tapping his fingers momentarily on the armrests of his chair. "The planet Shanthral. It is home to a shy, Force-sensitive species, but there are aspects of the planet that put it in the range of all things mystical. Perhaps you should start your investigations there…" He looked Krayt in the eye. "…my young apprentice."

Krayt's fingers clenched. There was a challenge in Sidious' voice.

"Not so young, master," he said, his voice close to a snarl. "I've seen enough."

With that, he turned and strode down the steps and out of the room, all the while feeling the eyes of his master boring into his back. As he re-entered the domain of the ysalamiri, Krayt's mind focused on one thing. He would find this time traveler and he would use whatever knowledge he had to make sure that his destiny was solidified. Skywalker was on his way; Krayt knew that his master's time was quickly coming to an end.

He would only not be there to see it.

Once Skywalker destroyed Sidious, Krayt would be able to dispose of whatever remained. However, even if the Chosen One was gone, there still remained several Jedi Masters who had survived Order 66. He would have to contend with them before seizing power.

He would not be defeated this time. He had suffered too much. The day he had ventured into Kuduran, suspicious of the Chancellor's purposes for the complex, had been the day he had changed forever, setting him on this path.

It had been the day the sun had gone out on his life as a Jedi, and he had been reborn as a Sith.


	48. The Day the Sun Went Out

**CHAPTER XLVIII**

**The Day the Sun Went Out**

Darth Krayt stormed down the corridors of the prison, his prowling walk notifying anyone who was coming in the opposite direction to get out of the way as quickly as possible. His encounter with his master had left him shaking off the after-effects of Sidious' mind attacks, something that required much attention and concentration. His body was tense and weakened, completely exhausted. This had not been the first time something of this manner had occurred. More than once Sidious had used that technique on him while holding a proper conversation in an attempt to trick him into admitting something Sidious could later use for his advantage. Luckily, Sidious was also a very good teacher and Krayt had learned enough that he could hold his ground against the master Sith Lord.

However, Krayt was still not quite capable of holding off the after-effects of such an attack.

There was something in the way that Sidious used the Force to layer his mental attacks that played games with memories. Those that had been buried deep down, placed in an area of the mind where they could lie untouched and forgotten had a habit of resurfacing. Try though he might, Krayt's memories of the past ten years, the years that had shaped him to be who he was now, were played in front of him again as if it were the day after and not four months. He had utilized every skill he had acquired from both his Jedi past and his Sith training to hide the memories, but here they were, as clear as daylight on Tatooine.

_A'Sharad Hett leaned back in the pilot's seat of his ship and frowned as he viewed the screen monitoring the entrance to the prison. Similar to Desolation Alley, Kuduran was enclosed in an energy field that opened at specific times to allow ships in and out –_ monitored _ships. There looked to be no easy way in – his ship was too small for a cloaking device, and even if he did have one, their sensors would set the alarms off as soon as he passed through the opening. There was more security here than he had ever seen. _

_He was parked on a small asteroid that orbited the larger asteroid upon which the Chancellor's secret prison had been built. Hett had been monitoring the place for several days now after discovering an unnerving series of clues that had led him here – and to the Chancellor. He had been away from Coruscant on assignment when he had his first encounter with reports of missing Force-sensitive persons. Out here on the Rim there were a large number of Force-sensitive people who had never been tagged by the Jedi Council as they were too remote. However, in his travels Hett had encountered many of them when he worked to protect them from the Separatists who threatened the Republic-friendly Outer-Rim planets. Two months ago he had been finishing a mission and was due to return to Coruscant when he heard that an entire family had been kidnapped. Looking into their health files and running scans on their blood tests, he discovered that every member of the family had a good amount of midichlorians in their systems – hereditary trait for that specific family. _

_His instincts told him that this was something he needed to investigate. So, he did. Abandoning the group of clones that had been sent with him, Hett had left on his new self-proclaimed mission – to discover why this family had been kidnapped. He did not find any answers – instead, he was given new questions as he soon picked up a trail that ran throughout the Outer-Rim planets. Any person – especially groups of people who were related in some way – that had enough midichlorians in their bloodstream to qualify for Jedi training had disappeared. Even more disturbing was the fact that none of the victims were human. _

_He should have notified the Council at that point, but something in him did not want to. This was his chance – a chance to prove that_ Skywalker _wasn't the only hero out there. If he could crack this case, then he would be just as honoured as the Hero with No Fear. Skywalker didn't deserve all the attention, all the love from every person who watched the HoloNet, all the admiration from the Padawans and younglings. Hett knew better. Skywalker was dangerous, volatile. _

_Anakin Skywalker walked the fine line between the light and the dark. The day would come when he would fall off the edge and this time he wouldn't be coming back._

_So Hett continued searching, investigating. He blocked all messages from the Council. He would not contact them again until he had solved this mystery and came back to them the honoured hero, saving hundreds of lives. _

_Not even when the trail began pointing at the Senate and the Chancellor did Hett contact the Council. He wouldn't rest until he had the truth. _

_Eventually, Hett had come up with a plan that would lead him to the kidnappers' base. Suspecting the Republic of something sinister, he infiltrated a Republic office in one of the prisons, using his status as a Jedi to his advantage. From there, he had traced the communication systems between the prisons and the Chancellor's office, finding that there was a surprising amount of communication between the Chancellor and a prison he had never heard of – Kuduran._

_It was quite lucky that he had managed to find out as much information has he did. The prison he visited proved to be very useful, as slicing into their files was easy enough. He extracted information on a prison transfer that would take place between this prison and Kuduran. He would trace the transfer ship back to wherever Kuduran was located and then infiltrate the prison himself. _

_That was how he had ended up in the middle of the asteroid belt in the Hoth system, observing Kuduran from a distance, planning his way in. It had the highest security he had ever seen and as the Chancellor has kept its existence quiet, Hett knew full well that this was not one situation where he could use his status as a Jedi. Considering the strains between the Council and the Chancellor… now was not the best time. _

_Hett glanced at the screen again. The energy field was opening. There was only one way in and this was it – he would have to take it. _

_The engines roared to life as the ship lifted off the asteroid and shot towards the prison. The opening in the energy field was closing. His ship zoomed towards it – and slipped through just as it shut behind him. _

_Red alarms flashed all over the prison as he steered towards the docking bay. His ship rocked has it was hit from behind. _

_All right, so maybe this wasn't such a good idea._

_A voice sounded over his comms system – a woman's voice, cold and cruel. "You have trespassed on private premises and you will be dealt with accordingly. Our men are flanking you and will take you in. Do not attempt to escape – the energy field will not open again and you are outnumbered. Any attempts to fire on any of our ships and we will have no choice but to destroy you. You have been warned."_

_So much for smooth flying._

_NO._

Which much effort, Krayt brought himself back to the present. His head was pounding and he was leaning against a wall in an attempt to keep from collapsing. There was a significant amount of pain associated with revisiting those memories. Gritting his teeth, he straightened, fighting the blackness that his mind wanted to sink back into.

A passing medic stared at him and then tried to cover up her bewildered look. Krayt turned; his glare sent her shuffling along the hall. She glanced back at him over her shoulder, trying to hide behind her long, white-blonde hair. Krayt stood still, his eyes boring into hers. She dared to stop and look back until the ferocity of the Sith's eyes caused her to turn and flee, walking hurriedly down the hall. He watched her until her white lab coat disappeared around the corner.

Most of the staff was afraid of him. It was not often that one deliberately stood up to him in such a manner.

Krayt continued down the hall, the black pool of memories threatening to swamp him again. A fire was growing in the base of his throat. The girl reminded him of _her._

He still only remembered her as Islen.

She was the first person he had met when he had come to Kuduran – when he had still been a Jedi.

She was also the first person he had killed – when he had stopped being a Jedi.

"_What is it that you want with me?"_

_He was in a small, dark room, chained to the wall to prevent escape. Somehow, his ability to feel the Force was being blocked. He felt weakened, almost naked without the Force. It was unnatural. There was one source of light, and it came from the opened door in the wall opposite his. The silhouette of a person stood in the door way. It was the first person he had seen since he arrived at Kuduran. _

"_It isn't so much of a matter of what we want with _you_," a woman's cold voice said. _

_Hett growled. He recognized the voice – this was the woman who had addressed him over his comm system. _

"_It's more of a matter of what _you_ can do for _us,_" the woman finished. _

_She stepped forwards and Hett was able to see her face. She was tall, pale and very beautiful in a cold, frosty way. Her hair was white-blonde, her eyes a very pale shade of blue. Her features seemed almost as if they were set in stone, completely unmovable. She could have very well been made out of ice. _

"_A'Sharad Hett." Her voice drew out his name as she walked towards him. Her eyes never strayed from his face as she paced. "The Jedi who has been causing us _so_ much trouble." _She tutted. _"It is an honour to meet you at last." She spat in his face. _

_Hett did not flinch. _

"_Who are you?" he snarled._

_She observed him for some time, her face expressionless. However, there was some kind of lofty amusement in her eyes. She walked towards him, placing a cold hand on his shoulder. Her long, white fingers tightened as she leaned in to whisper in his ear. _

"_You may call me Islen."_

_The movement came without warning. It was quick as lightening – he didn't even have time to catch what exactly she did. All he knew was that as soon as she stepped away from him, pain spiked through his left shoulder. He yelled, half from the shock, half from the pain. _

"_I am your trainer," she hissed, stepping back. _

_Hett's eyes rolled upwards to look at her. A faint hint of a smile touched her lips as she walked towards the door. He fought against his restraints._

"_Come back here, you—!"_

_Islen was a silhouette against the door again. "If you need to remember one thing, let it be this," she said coolly. "By straying into this territory, you brought this upon yourself."_

_The door slammed closed and he was left in darkness. _

If Krayt had to pinpoint the beginning of his transformation, the day that Islen had dislocated his arm was it. Before he even encountered Sidious, Islen had set him on his course. Shortly after their first encounter, he was moved to a larger, furnished room and was no longer restrained. He was well fed and was able to walk around the room, but it was still, for all intents and purposes, a cell. And it had minimal light. He did not know how many days he had spent in that dark room, completely alone, with periodic visits from the ice-cold woman who was assigned to prepare him for what was to come. The times Islen came were the only times when he saw real light.

He did not know who she was or where she had come from. He did not even know if she had been Force-sensitive or not. But in that cell, those facts did not matter. Kuduran was shielded from the Force by ysalamiri, yet it was where he had started his path to the dark side. Islen showed him anger – rage so powerful that it could be used against another living being, even without the use of the Force. She taunted, tested, tortured, struck at him in every way possible, goading him until he broke.

"_Perhaps I should have never let you out of your restraints," she said in an almost whimsical tone in her voice. _

_His eyes flashed at her from across the room. "You are sadistic," he spat. _

_She shrugged. "I am who I am. I cannot change that. But you—" Her eyes narrowed as she paced around him. "You have not found your true self yet. It's there, somewhere, A'Sharad. We just haven't discovered it yet."_

"_Discover someone ELSE!" _

_He threw the first punch, but she easily blocked it. Islen was a fighter and had strength, speed and dexterity. Hett had yet to beat her in a fight. Given a chance to use the Force, he knew he would be able to, but that was not an option here. He had grown use to being adrift in the silence, using his own senses, fighting without aid. _

_Islen stopped a blow and seized his wrist, bending his arm sharply and quickly behind his back. "You've had a shadowed view of the world, and of yourself. It is time you threw away the Jedi philosophies that you are still holding on to—"_

_She cried out in pain as he kicked her shins, causing her to momentarily release her grip on him and skip backwards. _

"_I am no ordinary Jedi," he snapped, throwing another punch in her direction. "I didn't live the comfortable childhood the majority of them had. I grew up on Tatooine – I know the brutality of the real world."_

_She laughed coldly. "Anakin Skywalker grew up on Tatooine. I would say that even _he_ knows himself better than you—"_

"_Skywalker walks a very fine line!" he shouted. _

_Islen shrugged. "And therefore you are better than him? At least he can recognize that both good and evil reside within him—"_

"_SHUT UP!" _

_Slam. _

"_You don't know anything about what you're saying," he hissed. _

_Islen's expression remained cold. "I know more than you possibly can. Soon even you will recognize the brutality that lies within every living soul—" _

_Punch. Miss. Hit. Duck. _

"_EVEN YOUR OWN!" _

_The kick sent him spiralling to the ground. He was back up on his feet in moments. _

"_What are you trying to prove?"_

"_What does your mind say? What do you think?"_

"_Don't play games!"_

_There was a table in the centre of the room. Islen crashed backwards into it, pinned down by Hett. Their fight had come to a close. Her ice-blue eyes looked up at him and she smiled faintly as a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth trickled down her chin. _

"_Congratulations."_

"_On what?" he hissed through his teeth. _

"_I can't say." _

"_Tell me," he snarled. One hand lay on her throat._

_There was nothing but satisfaction on Islen's face. "Look inside yourself and you tell me," she whispered. _

_At that moment, the door slid open. _

"_That is enough," a man's voice said. "Let her go, A'Sharad. She still has responsibilities that cannot be solved if she is dead."_

_Hett slowly released his grasp on her and Islen got up, quickly crossing the room. She wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, but when she looked back at him, he saw that she had only succeeded in smearing it on her white skin. She nodded at the cloaked man who had entered and then left. _

_Hett waited. He could still feel the tense anger that had built up inside him. It refused to die down. _

"_Who are you?"_

"_I will be frank with you, A'Sharad Hett. My true name is Darth Sidious. But to you, I am known as someone else." He lowered his hood. _

"_Chancellor Palpatine?"_

_Hett was not been surprised. He wanted to be surprised, but he wasn't. Everything he knew about the state of the Republic suddenly made sense. The revelation that the Galaxy had been lead by a Sith Lord for these past many years was possibly the _only _thing that made sense now. _

"_Come, my boy," Sidious said, gesturing towards the door. "Let me explain everything."_

That had been Krayt's first meeting with his master. After all the days in the cell, he was released and walked through every inch of the complex while Palpatine explained his vision for the Galaxy. As he put it, all he wanted was peace and stability. The old ways had failed. It was time to try something new. Yes, he was a Sith Lord, but visionaries cannot block themselves from any possible routes. The dark side of the Force had allowed him to do extraordinary things that would help give the people of the Galaxy peace.

As Krayt strode through Kuduran's halls, the memories continued to stir within his mind. He recalled the convincing speech Sidious had given him that day. The anger that had built up inside him stayed with him, though it never became focused on the Sith Lord. Finally, Sidious had brought him to his own quarters, the sole place in the entire complex where the Force could be accessed. The moment Krayt had stepped through those doors and felt the Force again, he breathed in its power and felt complete. Sidious had watched him and seemed to approve.

"_You are destined for a great and mighty future, A'Sharad," Sidious said, "but you have much to learn." He held out a hand. Hett looked down and saw that the Sith Lord was holding _his_ lightsaber, offering it back to him. _

_Hett seized the handle, gripping the cold metal tightly in his hand. "Why?" he asked. _

"_The answer is simple," Sidious replied. "Why imprison one as talented as yourself? Perhaps you cannot see the value of your time spent with Islen yet, but she has helped you, trained you for what you are about to see – _if _you choose to seek it."_

"_Seek what?"_

"_The Jedi have a very narrow minded view, A'Sharad. I can teach you things that they could never dream of. Powers that can help you achieve anything. Anything at all." The Sith Lord paused. "My last apprentice failed me. Evidently, he was not who I thought he was. You are stronger than he. I need help, and I have chosen you. You have a choice. There is a lightsaber in your hand – you can either use it to strike me down, the most powerful Sith Lord in the Galaxy, a known threat to the Jedi, or you can let me show you who you could be." _

_Hett glanced at the weapon in his hand. "Who… who was your last apprentice?"_

_Sidious sighed. "He was never truly an apprentice. I had chosen him the moment I met him, but had waited a very long time to reveal my true self to him. Unfortunately… he denied his fate, his destiny. No good will come of him."_

"_Who is it?!"_

"_Anakin, of course," Sidious said. _

"_Skywalker?!"_

"_Yes. Don't you see what I'm offering you? The chance Skywalker denied. It's yours to take now."_

_Hett paused. _

"_All right."_

Krayt had never known that time travel existed. He chosen to take the chance Skywalker had denied – out of spite, out of anger… and perhaps out of curiosity and the greed for knowledge that surpassed his own at the time. The moment he had done that, Sidious had pulled him out of time and space. They travelled far, far into the future. It was if time was on fast-forward and all they did was watch it go by. Over the space of centuries, empires and civilizations rose and fell. Finally, they came to a stop on a war-torn planet in an age that came after the fall of the Hapan Empire, many years in the future.

_They were standing on a cliff. The air was dry and arid. It reminded him of Tatooine. Except this planet was not a desert. It was on fire. Forests had been turned to ash, cities to dust, yet the people continue to fight on. _

"_This battle is eight hundred and twenty-three years in your future, A'Sharad," Sidious said as they overviewed a battle going on in the valley below. "Ten years have passed since the fall of the Hapan Empire. Force-sensitives are being hunted down and exterminated due to fear of their powers."_

"_Why have you brought me here?"_

_Sidious smiled silkily. "I find that _personal _experience is the best way to learn about the world."_

_An explosion behind them brought the presence of another battle to their attention. Soon they were enveloped in it, forced to become participants rather than spectators. Hett ignited his lightsaber and joined the fray. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Sidious do the same. _

_But by the time the battle was over, Sidious was nowhere to be seen. _

That was when Krayt realized how cunning Sidious' mind was. He was trapped in that age eight hundred years in his future for a year and a half, fighting for his life as he dodged the patrols sent out by the government to find and exterminate Force-sensitives, fought with people who were the same as him, got into brawls with outlaws and brigands before eventually joining their band. He saw the formation of the next government, but it was born out of war. Eight hundred years in the future and the Galaxy was not a peaceful place. A week-long battle between two opposing Force-sensitive groups saw Krayt severely injured when he lost an arm and an eye.

Not long after this, Sidious returned for him.

The moment he saw him, Krayt attacked the Sith Lord.

"_You left me!" he howled. "You left me behind to rot, trapped in the future with a declining civilization ruled by bloodlust brought on by years of warfare and the downfall of an Empire!"_

_Sidious very calmly used the Force to snatch Hett's lightsaber from his grasp. "Enough!" he snapped. "Your reaction is childish. Foolhardy. This is but your first lesson. What have you learned?"_

"_The souls of the living here are overrun by prejudice and bloodlust," he said. "All they want now is a war."_

"_This is the future, A'Sharad," Sidious said. "Do you know how this culture became like this?"_

"_Because it was built on the foundations of the past. And they do not learn from their history. Mistakes are repeated."_

"_Exactly."_

"_You want to change that."_

"_Yes."_

"_Stop this future from happening."_

"_Yes." Sidious paused. "You know, my boy, to an outsider it may seem that I, being a Sith Lord, want domination over the Galaxy. But I could have taken that without being a Sith Lord. In a galaxy over-run by the values of the Jedi, the Sith are ultimately associated with evil. But there is no good and no evil. Things are never black and white."_

_Hett waited for Sidious to continue, but it appeared the Sith Lord had nothing to add to his statement. _

"_Why did you leave me here?" he growled._

"_You have much to learn, my young apprentice. This is just the beginning of your trials."_

That was the beginning of his descent to the dark side. Sidious had a very specific plan for him, and if he survived, Krayt would become one of the most powerful Sith Lords the Galaxy had ever seen. In the present time, it had been four months since A'Sharad Hett went into Kuduran and never returned. In actuality, it had been ten years. Ten years of travelling through time and space, seeing the disasters that repeated themselves again and again throughout history. Some of Krayt's most visit memories came from his second trial, the five years he had spent in the captivity of the Yuuzhan Vong. For five years he gathered knowledge of their warrior culture, never once succumbing to the pain he endured throughout his captivity. The eye and the arm he lost in battle eight centuries in the future were replaced with the Yuuzhan Vong's biotechnology. He took what he learned in those dark months and fed it towards his need to escape, his need to sink into a state of power that the Jedi would never consider.

Eventually, Sidious returned, only to ask him one simple question: "What have you learned?"

"_These warriors are planning an assault on our Galaxy," Hett said. "It will occur very soon, but I feel that whatever government resides there will not be prepared for it. Teach me how to defeat this civilization."_

"_Excellent." There was an unfathomable gleam in Sidious' eye. "You are now ready for your _true _training."_

The Jedi he had been was no more. A'Sharad Hett no longer existed – he was now Darth Krayt. He and Sidious now had a mission to prevent the Galaxy's future from coming true. They were both powerful enough to stop it. However, even as he sank deeper and deeper into the dark side of the Force, Krayt's burning anger towards his master, first felt the day Sidious retrieved him from the cell, never diminished.

They returned to Kuduran within the hour from which they had first left. It was as if nothing had changed, at all.

Except it had.

"_Congratulations," a cold voice said from somewhere behind him. _

_Krayt turned. Islen stood leaning against a wall, her eyes cold and calculating as she observed him. _

"_I see you've completed one part of your training, Sith Lord."_

"_Why are you here?" he growled. _

_She straightened and stepped towards him. "I like the biotech additions. The orange eye suits you very well."_

_He gritted his teeth. "What do you mean, _one _part?"_

"_Training never ceases," she answered, shrugging. "You can never stop learning. Though, of course, in your case most of it was thrust on you. You didn't have much of a choice, did you? Frankly, I'm surprised that Sidious has put this much effort into creating you."_

_He acted without thinking. He could not feel the Force within the halls of the prison, but that did not matter. He grabbed her by the throat, pushing her up against the wall. Islen choked, gasping for air. _

"_Everything I am," he hissed, "everything I have done, I have done because I _chose _it."_

_The corners of her lips curled upwards and she emitted gagging, coughing laughter. "Surely you are not so _dense_ as to believe that for one second. Sith Lords toy with each other to get their opponents to do exactly what they want. Sidious is a master at it. There can only ever be two Sith Lords, but they are eternally enemies. Never partners. It is the truth of the life you have chosen to lead. The sacrifice for power. You will always be alone."_

"_What do _you _know of it?" he snarled, his grip tightening. _

_She gagged and choked, her eyes rolling back. He let go and Islen slid to the floor, lifeless._

Sidious looked on Islen's death with cold distance. After that, master and apprentice spent much of their time travelling throughout the Galaxy, visiting many different places in many different times, gathering information that would help them with their mission back in their own present.

Krayt turned a corner in the labyrinthine halls of the prison, concentrating on burying the memories. They had been so vivid, so clear. Moments of his life that he did not want to remember – his journey through time, his years spent in captivity, his power growing on pain and anguish…

He had arrived at his destination. The walk had seemed longer than it really had been, as he had been fighting the memories that his battle with Sidious had brought back up. Punching in the access codes, he slipped into the control room. It was deserted; whoever was manning it had left for whatever reason. All the easier to do what he needed to get done.

Krayt observed the screen flashing the incoming alert from Desolation Alley. He quickly cancelled it and then tapped into the comm system, telling the prison warden that everything was under control and that the ones responsible had been caught and were being dealt with.

There was only one thing left to do.

Solo needed to be dealt with in the proper manner.

He arrived at her cell and ordered the guards away.

The girl was curled on her side when the door slid open. She did not move as he entered, standing in the doorway.

"Get up."

Solo stayed where she was. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" she said, her voice hoarse and scratchy.

"My master has returned," Krayt told her. "He will be looking forward to meeting you soon."

"You can tell him that I don't share the sentiment."

"I expect that he already knows."

Solo turned and slowly got to her feet. "What do you want?" she asked. "I have nothing else to tell you. Torture me to the death if you wish, I'm not saying anything."

"You do not have to," Krayt said coldly. "I have no wish to exterminate you."

"Then why are you here?" It sounded more like a statement than a question.

"To give you a warning," he said. "I do not care what happens to you. The Galaxy is on the tip of disaster. Remember that in the days to come and remember this – I orchestrated it all. Not Sidious. I."

"You're gloating about something that hasn't happened yet?" She raised an eyebrow. She did not look very impressed.

"Think of it what you will."

"I think you're a psychopathic idiot, that's what," she snapped. "Unlike your master, who's a psychopathic genius. Whatever you've planned, I'm sure Palpatine already has it figured out."

He felt the familiar flare of anger. "Your fate has already been _decided,"_ he spat, stepping back out of the cell. The door slid closed.

_Whatever becomes of her does not matter,_ he thought vehemently as he made his way through the docking bay. Whatever happened once Skywalker arrived did not matter, as long as Sidious and the Chosen One were destroyed at the same time.

He had new plans now. It was impossible to tell what his investigation of Shanthral would uncover.


	49. Corellia

**CHAPTER XLVIX**

**Corellia**

Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy was bored. In fact, she was bored out of her mind. There had been nothing in the past weeks to do but sit around and wait and look after crying, screaming little children. In all seriousness, at that age she knew _she_ had never behaved as bad as those younglings did.

_I should be out there, helping,_ she thought, grimacing. _If I can't help Anakin and Master Kenobi, then I should at least be helping Master Yoda and the Senators instead of looking after _babies.

The adults claimed that she _was_ helping – helping by guarding the younglings. But there were plenty of guards on board the _Tantive IV_ (now code-named _Exeter)_. They should be the ones saddled with playing hours of non-stop "Bantha, Bantha, Mynock." They had orders to stay on the ship anyways. Why did _she_ have to stay here as well while the senators had all the fun? Anakin had said that she could help them. But what did they do when she offered assistance? They told her to go watch the younglings.

Because _someone_ had to do it.

She blew a puff of air up from her lower lip which caused her bangs to dance across her forehead before she sunk lower into her bed, pulling her pillow close and punching it into a ball. Lying on her stomach, she picked up a datapad from the edge of the bunk and set it before her eyes. She scanned the holoimages, her eyes flickering through the words that accompanied them.

_The Adventures of Muffles the Nerf Herder. Once upon a time, there was a young nerf-herder named Muffles. He lived in a cosy little home on a wide plateau on Naboo. It was a very beautiful place. The sun always shone and there was never any bad weather. Muffles was very good at his job, but he had a problem. He was the only one living on the plateau. He was lonely. Nerfs make good friends, but they are nothing like talking friends. It is very hard to hold a conversation with someone who doesn't talk, after all. _

"Scout!"

"Ugh!"

Scout flipped over on to her side and glared at the person in the doorway. "What do you want, Whie?" she groaned.

"You've been in here all day," he answered. "What are you doing?"

Scout made an indeterminate noise and shrugged. Whie gave her an odd look and crossed the room, snatching up the datapad.

"Hey!" Scout sat up. "Give that back!" She reached for it, but Whie danced out of range.

"_The Adventures of Muffles the Nerf-Herder?" _He lowered it and raised an eyebrow. "Sounds absolutely _fascinating."_

"It is," Scout snapped. "Shut up." She gestured with a hand and the datapad jumped from Whie's hand back to hers. She flipped back on to her stomach, set the datapad on top of the pillow and settled down.

Whie merely crossed his arms, as if waiting for something. Scout eyed him out of her peripheral vision for a moment and then glared at him.

"Padmé gave it to me," she explained. "Kids' stuff is the only thing to read around here." She turned back to the nerf-herder's story. _One day, Muffles decided that he was going to climb the mountain and see what was on the other side. Perhaps there was a village down there where he could meet new people and maybe become friends with them—_

"I didn't saying anything!"

"AGH!" She squirmed around and glared at him. "I'm _trying_ to read here!"

"Suit yourself." Whie shrugged and walked towards the door. "Just to let you know, Bail and Padmé – I mean, Senator Amidala and Senator Organa, and Master Yoda want to see us. Padmé – Senator Amidala, I mean – says that it's important."

Scout threw the datapad aside, jumped to her feet and was at the door before Whie even got there. Instead, he was nursing the bruise that had appeared when the datapad holding Muffles' adventures hit him squarely on the forehead. Scout glanced at him and then pressed a hand to her mouth.

"Oops." She grinned apologetically. "Sorry, Whie."

"No matter," Whie said, wincing. "Never realized how dangerous nerf-herders are."

The two Padawans made their way down the hall, bantering back and forth about the necessity of teaching children about happy-go-lucky nerf-herders who go on missions to find friends and the usefulness of datapads that contain such stories. After a few minutes, the jokes became old and their conversation fell elsewhere.

"Do you know where we are?" Scout asked. "I didn't bother to find out. I know we've been grounded for several hours now. I just assumed that Master Yoda and the others had left again, but now I guess not."

"We're on Corellia."

"Oh." Something didn't seem right about that. Corellia was a bustling metropolitis. "You sure that's safe? I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Ask them yourself," Whie replied, punching a button on the wall. The door to the state suite slid open and the Padawans entered.

Master Yoda, Senator Amidala and Senator Organa were seated at the conference table, deep in conversation. The room seemed as familiar as ever, but at the same time Scout thought it strangely absent. It took her a moment to place it, but it dawned at her that it just didn't feel _right_ without Anakin and Master Kenobi there.

She missed them.

Scout desperately hoped that they were all right. They were both great Jedi, but they had a habit of falling into the craziest of traps. Luckily, they also had a habit of miraculously getting out of said traps.

If only she knew their current status. Maybe she could help them.

The sound of the door sliding open caught the adults' attention. The Jedi Master and the senators looked up as the Padawans approached the table.

"Scout, Whie," Padmé said, smiling. "I'm glad you came."

As they sat down, Scout noted that Padmé seemed paler than usual. There were bags under her eyes and she looked tired, completely drained of energy.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking between the two senators and the Jedi Master.

"To the rendezvous point on Mon Calamari, soon we must go," Yoda said. "But first, one last attempt we must make."

"Attempt?" Whie asked. "Uh… this doesn't sound good."

Scout elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow! What?"

She glared at him.

"For these past few weeks we've been trying to gather together those who will suffer because of the Emperor's rule," Padmé explained. "We have to convince the people of the Galaxy to fight back, to _resist_ his rule. Otherwise, they will be over-powered before they can even try and once they are, there's no turning back. He will convince them that the Empire is the greatest thing that has ever happened to the Galaxy, and even if his reign is oppressive they will believe him."

Scout made a face. "How can people be so stupid sometimes? If someone is trying to subjugate, why not fight back?"

"Fear," Bail replied darkly. "Fear is a very powerful tool. There have been governments built entirely upon their use of fear."

"So, why are we on Corellia?"

"If there's any planet known for independence," Padmé said, "it is Corellia."

"Underground movements are very hard to establish from our… ah… current situation," Senator Organa said.

"The upper hold, Sidious has," Yoda continued. "Weeding out systems that could support us, he is. Difficult to find help in places where fear of the Empire runs rampant."

"So, we're going to try here now," Scout said. Her eyes lit up. "And we get to come with you this time?"

"Yes," Padmé said. "We've received word from one of the Senators who is still loyal to the Republic. The _true_ government. We will be meeting some Corellians who will be of help. Bail and I, along with Captain Antilles, are going to meet them. Scout, you are going to come with us."

"Really?" She couldn't help grinning.

"Don't get so excited yet," Bail murmured. "We cannot know which direction this meeting will take us."

"What about me?" Whie asked, shooting a look and frowning at Scout.

"Come with me, you will," Yoda said. "A mystery on Corellia, we must unlock."

Whie looked rather puzzled at this statement.

"A disturbance there has been, young Padawan," Yoda continued. "Follow a strange trail in the Force, we must."

Scout frowned. Sometimes she thought that Yoda was over-sensitive to these kinds of things. Watch out, be very careful, the dark side is just around the corner! Ooh, ahh! Very scary. But the little Jedi Master tended to be right about things, even when he didn't seem clear. There was always some trick, some different point of view. She didn't sense anything strange here, but that didn't mean that there wasn't. Sometimes it was best to go with Yoda's instincts. Invariably, they turned out to be right, in one way or another.

* * *

The tavern was dark and gave off an impossible air of dinginess. However, contrary to the way it appeared, it was very clean, as if it were merely trying to give the illusion of a dangerous cantina similar to those found in the Outer-Rim.

Padmé held the hood of her cloak tight around her face, casting it in shadow as she meandered her way through the crowd of outlandish space travellers. Bail and Captain Antilles were only a few steps behind her.

"Senator," the Captain hissed under his breath, "are you so sure about this?"

"I've been in worse places, Captain, please remember that," Padmé snapped back under her breath. "Besides, I am armed. I can take care of myself."

Scout trailed behind them, her eyes taking in everything. It was nice to get off the ship; however, this was the last place she expected to be. Most of all, she had not expected to find it so _fascinating. _The tavern was lively, filled with loud, obnoxious pilots of every age and species imaginable arguing with native Corellians over any topic. There were screens set around the long, low-ceilinged room, all of which were broadcasting live footage from the HoloNet. The voices of the tavern's occupants, however, blocked any sound that came with the images. The place was positively rank with the smell of alcohol and though the lights were dim, there was some kind of seedy energy living within it. This was a very different atmosphere from what she had encountered before. Pilots and smugglers and drug-dealers… there all kinds of low-life forms here. Her hand tightened on the hilt of her lightsaber. She couldn't know when she would need it.

"He's over there," Scout heard Padmé murmur under her breath. They made their way across the tavern. Sitting at a table that was at the very back of the room and lit by a dim reddish glow were two cloaked figures. Still trailing behind the others, Scout narrowed her eyes, trying to make them out.

Suddenly, she felt something in her pocket that wasn't there before.

Scout wielded around and snatched hold of an arm. Realizing that the person the arm belonged to was not at her height, she looked down and saw a young boy struggling to release himself from her grip.

"Let me go, let me go, let me go!"

Her grip tightened as she saw what the boy had in his hand – her lightsaber. How he had managed to unclip that from her belt without her noticing, she had no idea. But she did know for certain that this little thief was not stealing from her again.

"Give me that back first and then I might think about it."

The boy's brown eyes narrowed. "Only if you let me go first!"

"Give it back!" Scout hissed, reaching for her lightsaber.

The boy swung it behind his back, out of reach, and shook his head. "Nope!"

"Come on! I seriously don't want to hurt you."

The boy shook his head. "Hmm, what is this?" he asked, eyeing her mockingly as he looked at the object grasped in his hand. Scout reached for it again, but he waved it out of range. "I bet it's worth a lot!"

"You're not selling it to anyone!" Scout exclaimed. She let go of his arm and lunged for her weapon, but the boy was quick on his feet and dashed away. She followed him, running through the tavern, dodging people and chairs and tables. The kid had the advantage – he was small and was able to get through the crowd more easily. But Scout didn't lose him. She saw him round a corner. Apologizing to a couple as she jumped up on their table, she leaped over several booths and landed in front of the kid. He saw her, gave her a quizzical look and turned around, fleeing in the opposite direction. Scout gestured quickly with one hand – the boy tripped and her lightsaber went rolling out of his grasp.

She ran towards it and scooped it up, clipping it back on to her belt.

"That's enough of that," she said, crossing her arms and glaring down at him.

The boy looked rather pathetic as he stared up at her. His nose was running. He coughed and slowly sat up. "Thanks for _nothing,"_ he said.

"Oh, _stars,_ you're worse than the younglings," Scout sighed. She gave him a hand and pulled him to his feet. "There. Now, sit." She pointed to an empty booth. The kid gave her a look, but sat down anyway. She slid into the spot opposite him and folded her hands together. "What's your name?"

"Han," the boy said sharply. "What's yours?"

"Scout."

"That's a weird name."

"It's better than my other name."

"What's your other name?"

"Tallisibeth," Scout said.

The boy snorted. She scowled. He turned his laugh into a cough.

"_Don't_ tell anyone that, kid," Scout warned.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am. I'm fifteen!"

"Yeah, well, I'm ten, so don't call me kid!"

"You _are_ a kid."

"Shut up!"

Scout folded her arms. Why was she arguing with a ten-year-old? She had better things she needed to be doing. Catching the Senators' conversation with the people they came here to meet was one of them. She should probably be over there right now—

"You're a Jedi, aren't you," Han said. It wasn't a question.

Scout rolled her eyes.

"I saw your lightsaber!" His voice was almost sing-song.

"You are so… _annoying!"_ Scout said, flustered.

Han looked rather proud of himself. "That's why I tried to steal it," he continued. "I'm the Galaxy's best pick-pocket. If I can pick-pocket from a Jedi, that means that I can pick-pocket from anyone. Maybe even the Emperor himself!"

A disgusted look came over Scout's face. She wasn't sure what to think of that statement.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you," she said.

"Why not?"

"The Emperor's not someone you can sneak up on very easily."

"Have you tried?"

"No," Scout said. Then she smirked and leaned forwards. "But I know a guy who did," she said in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Oh! Who?"

"Not saying," Scout said in her normal voice. She shrugged and leaned back in her seat.

"You are _no_ fun at all."

"SOLO! GET OVER HERE, NOW!"

A large, booming voice filled the cantina. Scout turned her head and saw a muscular, grimy man staring at their booth. Han shot her a look, jerked his head in the man's direction and slipped off his seat. He disappeared into the crowd. Scout stayed in her place, lost in thought. Han had been called "Solo."

_I wonder if he's any relation to Jaina,_ she thought. _Cousin? Nephew? _

She shook her head and stood up, making her way towards the table Padmé and Bail were huddled over with the strangers they had come here to meet.

"Scout."

Someone clasped their hands around her arm. She turned and saw Padmé.

"What?" she asked.

"Who was that boy you were talking to?" Padmé asked.

Scout shrugged. "Some kid. He tried to steal my lightsaber—"

"Shh!" Padmé glanced around. "Not so loud. Half the men in this room are bounty hunters and you forget, Palpatine put a price on every Jedi's head."

"All right, I'll be quiet," Scout whispered, her voice so low it could hardly be heard.

Padmé rolled her eyes. "Did that man call him 'Solo?'" she asked.

Scout nodded.

Padmé's eyes glanced around the tavern. "Where did he go?" The words didn't seem to be directed at Scout, but Scout shrugged in response anyway.

"Come on," Padmé said. "Let's go back."

The senator ushered her through the crowd to the table at the back of the cantina. Padmé quickly took her seat and waved for Scout to do the same.

"Scout," Bail said, "this is Garm Bel Iblis, the Corellian Senator, and Shyla Merricope, former Diktat of Corellia."

Scout nodded her head in greeting to the two politicians.

"They have been working together to form a political resistance group against the Empire," Bail continued.

"They can help us?" Scout asked.

Bel Iblis smiled. "More than help. For years we have been trying to keep our homeworld neutral in Palpatine's affairs. We sealed ourselves off during the Clone Wars until we were later dragged into them. When Palpatine announced an Extraordinary Session just before the creation of the Empire, the Corellian system was forced to re-open. I have never trusted Palpatine; his influence on the Galaxy is a dark mark in our history. As such, we have been organizing an underground resistance."

"You have our help and support," Merricope added. "I may not hold my old office anymore, but that gives me more freedom to move unwatched. Garm is a figurehead; the eyes of the Senate and of all Corellians are on him. It is difficult to lead a double-life in such conditions, therefore I have stepped in."

"So, what are you going to do?" Scout asked. "Destroy Imperial outposts or what?"

"Something along the lines of that," Bel Iblis replied.

"What about us?" Scout said, turning to Padmé.

"There are pockets of resistance on every planet," she answered. "We need someone to organize them, and when the time comes, they must be prepared to help us in any way possible. The majority of the Galaxy believes us to be traitors and the Jedi to be terrorists; it is very difficult to convince the populace otherwise. Neither Bail or I can truly act as leaders while we are on the run from the Empire."

"That is why I contacted Senators Amidala and Organa," Bel Iblis said. "Believe me, it was very difficult to get through to them, but I have my ways. I can help, but I am still senator and Palpatine suspects me as much as any of the other senators who participated in the Delegation of 2000. Whether we like it or not, we are under constant watch and I have no desire to put my people through the suffering that came to Alderaan and Chandrila. Therefore, we must have caution."

While he was talking, Padmé's eyes had slid over to the nearest screen. She was watching and listening with rapt attention, her brow furrowed and a dark look overcoming her face. Scout turned to see what the HoloNet was broadcasting and as soon as she saw the images and heard the voices, she began trembling.

"_A number of Jedi were captured today after trying to evade Imperial forces. Among their numbers were Kai Justiss, who was found on Kashyyyk rallying the Wookiees against the Empire, and the Jedi Healers Vokara Che and Winna Di Yuni…"_

Scout blinked. The hum of conversation in the cantina rose again, covering the announcer's voice. But the images were still there, large as life, on that screen.

"Scout?" Padmé lay a hand on her shoulder. "Scout, come on, we should go."

"_No."_ Her throat was stuck.

"Scout, come on—"

"Milady—"

"I am _not_ going any—"

"Milady!"

Padmé and Scout turned to see both Bail and Captain Antilles at their side. The captain was looking rather concerned. He nodded his head in direction of the door. Soldiers dressed in grey – the uniform of the Imperial military – had entered the tavern.

"There's an exit out back," Bel Iblis said under his breath. "Go now, before they spot you."

Scout gripped her lightsaber's hilt as they manoeuvred their way through the crowd. The soldiers were not questioning the customers. Instead, they were dragging along a struggling child, trying to make him tell them something. Scout caught a phrase or two as she made her way towards the back of the cantina.

"Where's the Jedi, boy?"

"I swear, I don't know!"

With fearful astonishment, Scout realized that the kid was Han.

"Padmé!" she hissed.

"What?"

"It's the kid met earlier!"

Padmé stopped. Bail and Captain Antilles motioned for her to keep moving, but she shook her head and started back across the cantina with Scout. They both saw the boy struggling in the grasp of the soldiers, saying, "Let me go, let me go, let me go!" over and over again.

"Let him go!" Scout called loudly.

"_Scout!"_ Padmé hissed.

The soldiers turned to the sound of her voice. The one holding the kid let go of him – Han dashed away, bounding out of the cantina before they could even see where he was.

"That's her! That's the Jedi!"

"Too right you are!" Scout shouted. She unclipped her lightsaber and ignited it.

"Scout!" Padmé shouted, trying to pull her away.

"It's Amidala!" one of the soldiers shouted, recognizing Padmé when her hood slid off her head.

They opened fire. Screams filled the tavern as people jumped and leapt out of the way. Scout's lightsaber spun, deflecting the bolts as Padmé tried to lead her to the back of the cantina. Padmé had drawn her own weapon and was shooting at the soldiers. Together, they dove behind a booth for cover, crawled forwards and turned a corner, running through the back corridor of the place and bursting out the back door, catching up with Bail and Captain Antilles.

It was only when they were safely in their speeder and heading back for their ship, using the cover of hundreds of transports in the air to hide, that Scout finally deactivated her lightsaber. Padmé eyed her, her expression full of annoyance and frustration.

"What?"

"You blew our cover."

"I…" Scout stopped. "Okay, maybe I did, but I had a good reason."

Padmé raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Okay, maybe it wasn't such a good reason." Scout still felt angry from what she had seen on the screens. She didn't think she could explain that very well, so she ignored the senator and turned to gaze to the traffic zooming past.

Maybe she should have just stayed in her room after all.

* * *

Whie had no idea what he and Yoda were searching for, but something told him that whatever it was, it wouldn't be nice. Their search had taken them all over the city, the disturbance in the Force jumping all over the place. It was getting increasingly impossible to track – at least, Whie thought so. For Master Yoda, the situation was quite different.

"There," Yoda said suddenly.

"Where?"

Whie did not have to ask the question. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, something resounded in the Force, something so big that there was no question as to where it was. They were flying over a dark building – he slowed down the speeder and landed in front of the closest entrance.

They left the speeder and hurried towards the door.

"What do you think is in there?" Whie asked.

"The answer to your question is why we enter," Yoda replied.

_So that sums up to 'Let's find out', I guess,_ Whie thought.

The door to the building ground open. From the sounds it made, Whie could tell that no one had passed through that door in a very long time. Inside, the building was dark and damp. It had been abandoned for several years now. Before, it seemed to be some kind of factory.

The Force was pulsing throughout it.

"What is going on?" Whie said, speaking into the darkness.

"Over there, we must look," Yoda said.

He began walking towards a staircase, but instead of going up it, he looked under it. Whie followed. What they found was the last thing he expected. A small figure lay crumpled on the damp floor. Its face was unlike any skin-tone Whie had seen before -- dark skinned and streaked with grey. Its features were quite clearly male. His eyes were closed and one of the most distinguishing features was a pair of bronze-coloured horns.

"Who is he?" Whie asked. This person was quite clearly the source of the disturbance – the Force's energy seemed clustered around the person. However, at the same time, he was quite clearly dead.

"Shanthrai, his people are called," Yoda explained. "They are from the planet Shanthral."

"Isn't that where the Council sent Jaina and Master Kenobi?" Whie asked.

Yoda nodded.

"What's a Shanthrai doing here, then?"

"A mystery, this is." Yoda walked slowly over to the body, inspecting it. "Strange and dark deeds have been committed. Tell us something, perhaps, this will."

Whie squinted to see what Yoda was holding. It looked like a datapad, or some other recording device. Yoda held it out in his hand so that Whie could see more clearly, and then activated it.

A hologram appeared. It was of a woman, with fair hair and sharp features. There was something dangerously icy about her. She stood very still as she spoke.

"_Hello again, A'Sharad." _The woman's voice was cold and crisp; she spoke with a clear Coruscanti accent. _ "I suspect you have gone through much to get to this place. Congratulations are in order for one who has come so far and unravelled so much of the mystery. I hope you have found the key, otherwise there is nothing more I can say until you do."_

The image faded.

"Who was that?" Whie asked quietly.

"More importantly – about _what_ did she speak," Yoda said. One of his ears twitched. "A'Sharad, she said."

"As in A'Sharad Hett?" Whie exclaimed. "But… didn't he go missing several months back, before all of this started? He never returned from his mission."

"Yes," Yoda said. "Hmm."

They were both quiet for a moment.

"Master Yoda," Whie finally said, "what is going on?"

"Darker than this Galaxy has ever seen, this is."

* * *

The captain, the two senators and Scout had returned to the ship by the time Whie and Yoda arrived. They had brought the hologram with them – Yoda wanted to take a closer look at it and see what he could decipher. As they made their way towards the state suite, Whie heard Padmé shouting something that someone he immediately knew was Scout.

"Don't _every_ do that again!"

He opened the door and stepped inside. "What did she do this time?"

Scout was sitting in a chair with her arms folded, her smouldering eyes on Padmé, who was restlessly walking around. "I kind of gave away our cover," she said.

"You did _what?"_

"I didn't mean to!" Scout said defensively. "There was a report on the HoloNet. They've captured more Jedi. I just got so angry, and then the soldiers came and…" She ran out of air. Her head drooped down on her chest. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Padmé sat down, too. "So am I. I shouldn't have yelled."

"I know." Scout smiled faintly. "So, what do we do now?"

"Mon Calamari," Bail answered. "It's time we met up with the others – if they're there."

"Don't worry," Padmé said firmly. "They will be."


	50. Dark Horizon

**CHAPTER L**

**Dark Horizon**

_The twin suns are setting over the deserts of Tatooine. A deep, burning red is streaked across the sky. There is nothing to be seen, nothing to be heard for miles. It is a silent, deadly place, where the sky meets the horizon. _

_Two travellers dare to cross the sands – an unknown man and woman of undeterminable age, hooded and cloaked, silently following their path under the burnt sky. They are exiles, slowly making their journey across an unforgiving world in a sacrifice that had to be made. _

_The woman holds a small gem that is strung around her neck. It looks to be her only possession. It looks like a chrysopaz, its face multi-faceted, each one glimmering in the fading sunlight. At its heart is a red glow that is slowly fading deep into to the gem. _

_Suddenly, they stop. They stand still, the harsh winds blowing across the desert tearing at their clothes. _

"_The sun sets on an old age," the woman says, lifting her head towards the sky._

_The man is kneeling on the desert floor. He picks up a handful of coarse sand and lets it slip through his fingers. _

_The woman looks behind her, towards the darkness that has already encompassed the horizon there. Her hood keeps her face in shadow. "From here, there is no going back." _

_Suddenly, she turns rapidly around, her hood falling backwards to reveal a face that is neither old nor young, and wide, violet eyes of a penetrating luminescence. _

Jaina screamed and felt herself falling before sharply realizing that she was awake. Her eyes snapped open in protest of what she had seen in her dream, but she was greeted with a foggy vision glazed by blue light. She blinked several times and everything came into focus. Coughing harshly, she licked her cracked lips, trying to ignore the dryness in her mouth and throat. Her eyes looked down and the first solid thing of this reality she took in was her arms. The skin of her left arm was spotted with bruises and criss-crossed by half-healed lacerations. The metal replacement that was now her right arm reflected the blue light of her prison and the room beyond. Staring into it, she saw the dim, monochromatic chamber that was lit with the soft glow from the force-field she was suspended in.

Her jaw clenched. She knew where she was – in the torture machine from the future which sapped her energy and kept her weakened for hours after she was released. Though her mind was clear and sharp, her body was weak and tired, slowly draining her.

This time, the chamber felt different. Evidently, Palpatine had had the ysalamiri surrounding this room removed, as she could now sense the Force. It flowed through her like a breath of fresh air, helping to calm and relax. Though it would take days for her to regain her physical strength, her mind was strengthened. She could attempt to escape, to free herself from the force-field, but she knew the results of being released from it. She'd felt them before, when she had first been captured and brought to Kuduran. Even if she did try to use the Force to shut the force-field off, she would not be able to move afterwards. For now, it was best to lie captive. Trapped or not, she would need all the strength she could muster.

Jaina knew that she was about to face Palpatine. When the soldiers had come to her cell, she knew she was not in for a pleasant time. In her current physical state, she had no resistance at all when they had drugged her. At the time, she wasn't sure what they had planned for her. She almost expected to see Krayt again when she woke up. After all, he had been in charge of operations here.

No. This was different. This time she was in for an audience with the Emperor himself.

The Emperor who was, for the moment, not present.

Jaina's mind came back to the dream she had just woken from. Something about it deeply unsettled her. She had recognized one of the travellers. When the woman had turned, she had been looking into her own face. Her own face but with changes that were alarming. Those eyes. The deep luminescent violet that seemed to be all-knowing and all-seeing.

"And what is it that the Jedi sees so keenly within herself?" Palpatine's silky voice asked.

Jaina realized that she had shut her eyes. She slowly opened them and found the Sith Lord sitting in his chair, watching her through narrowed eyes, his trademark dangerously passive expression on his face.

"I see nothing but _vermin_ in front of me," she spat. Her eyes met his for a moment. There was something almost triumphant in the dark orbs that refused to look away. It was almost as if he couldn't quite hide a malicious smile.

"Oh, you are doing remarkably well, Jaina," Palpatine said. He chuckled. "Always trying to show that you are stronger than we all think. It never gets tiresome. It is always so much more _rewarding_ to interrogate prisoners when they have their full minds at work."

"If you _think_ for one second that you can break me—"

"My dear," Palpatine interrupted shortly, "your brilliant show of courage and bravery has no affect on me like it may have on others. I know you. In the dark and in the silence of your cell, you _are_ broken already. Will you ever escape from here? Will you ever see your friends again? Poor little girl, crying in the corner because you do not know if you will ever be freed from a place that is slowly tearing apart your mind."

For a brief moment, Jaina froze, every muscle in her body unable to move. Slowly, she forced herself to relax, to breathe again. "I will not play games today, Sidious." She spoke slowly, emphasizing every word.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, aren't you?" He stood up from his chair and crossed the room while he spoke. "Everything is a game. Life is like the Dejarik board. One wrong move by you or by your fellows could have your enemy crush you. Yet if you give up entirely, your life is forfeit." He stopped by a table that contained a strange assortment of objects. Summoning a small black ball with a slight gesture of his hand, he turned back to her and continued to speak. "You need perseverance, patience, _strategy_ if you are going to win the game."

"And what's the prize?" Jaina asked flatly.

"The most precious of all," Palpatine replied plainly. With a swift motion, he cracked open the ball and white sand fell out onto the open palm of his other hand. _"Life."_

_The man is kneeling on the desert floor. He picks up a handful of coarse sand and lets it slip through his fingers._

_The sand thunders on to the ground. Jaina watches, unable to move, unable to look away. The man glances up and locks eyes with hers. His gaze is ancient and terrible. The luminescent violet eyes hold such deep knowledge of things past, present and future that she can't help but feel horrified and mesmerized at the same time._

Jaina gasped and wrenched herself away from the vision. Her head was pounding, her throat burning.

Palpatine was watching her with genuine interest. His eyes followed her every move, taking in every expression she made. He picked up a second black ball from the table and held it in his outstretched palm just inches away from the force-field so she could see it.

"What is that?" Jaina asked, her voice hoarse.

"These are called the Orbs of Kahran," Palpatine answered, indicating the other black orbs behind him on the table. "They originate from a planet called Lok. They are a mystery – no one knows who created them, or why they were made. But they contain a great power – and when the orb is opened, that power can only be tapped into by a select few for Force users named _dahre_ in one of the ancient languages of the planet."

"And how did you find them?" Jaina snapped.

Palpatine sighed. "My dear, it appears that you have no incentive for education," he said. "There have not been any _dahre_ for millennia. Not one. Until now." He locked eyes with her. "What did you see?"

"_Nothing,"_ Jaina hissed.

"Do not lie to me, girl," Palpatine snarled. His eyes flashed dangerously. "I opened one of the orbs. You had a vision, I could feel it. Now, either you tell me or I will force you to."

She looked at him coldly. "No."

A look of rage crossed Sidious' face. His eyes darkened. There was a bright flash of light and Jaina cried out in pain as she felt the Sith Lord's mind attempting to destroy the barriers around her own. She lost her vision as she tried to force him back. Each attack was a burning stab, tearing deeper and deeper, threatening to rip her apart from the inside. There was tremendous force and will in the Sith Lord's mind, backed with a deep power and ancient, terrifying knowledge. She clenched her fists and concentrated, drawing the barrier tighter around herself, making it more impenetrable. In her mind, it was a white fortress assaulted by a sea of black. The intensity of the pain was growing, burning across mind and body until it was almost too much. Finally, there was another flash of light and she fond herself staring at the dark tiles of the chamber floor.

Jaina raised her head and saw Palpatine looking particularly irked. She smiled slightly.

_Victory._

"Like I said," Jaina told him coolly, "I will not tell you anything. And you can't even get inside my mind to see it. Not without killing me, at least, and then you wouldn't have a chance to seeing anything."

"Do not be prematurely triumphant, brat," he snarled at her, his eyes gleaming furiously. "I have ways of bemusing and entrancing the minds of others. I won't need to kill you. There is another way. After all, an insane _dahre_ is just as good as a healthy one." He walked back to his chair and sat down. "That could all be avoided, of course," he said, folding his hands and looking up at her. "The simplest thing to do is to tell me what you saw."

Jaina could almost feel her blood boiling. A variety of expletives were looking to escape her. As she stared down at her captor from her prison, she could feel anger bubbling up inside her. Never had she encountered someone so cruel, so sadistic it made her sick. If she could do by force of mind alone, she'd kill him right now.

A small smile touched the corners of his lips. "I can sense your hatred for me, young one," Sidious said silkily. "Perhaps it is time that you learn from it."

"Have you ever heard of a thing called _righteous_ anger?" Jaina snapped. "That would be me!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then perhaps you haven't pushed yourself close enough to the brink, yet." He shook his head. "Your grandfather was much better at this than you are. What a disappointment he was."

"He's better off as Anakin Skywalker than he ever could be as Vader," Jaina spat. "He would not have obeyed you forever anyways."

"No, and I wouldn't expect it of him," Palpatine replied. "A true Sith Lord has no friends or allies, Jaina. It has been said _'keep your friends close and your enemies closer.'_ Our worst enemies come in the form of those we train. Betrayal is inevitable. Get too close, become too trusting and you'll wake up dead." He swivelled his chair in the direction of the table. Holding out a hand, he summoned a small vial of bright yellow liquid, which he caught and held up between his thumb and forefinger for Jaina to see. "Do you know what this is?"

Jaina stared at it, trying to ignore the cold, numb feeling that was coming over her. She recognized that liquid and its poisonous shade of yellow. She remembered being injected with it several times over. She did not know what its purpose was, but she hated the sight of it.

"This is potent little thing called Delik-66," Palpatine said. "You've been under its influence since your arrival, but it takes a certain amount of time before we start seeing… _effects."_ He smiled darkly.

"What does that mean?" Jaina hissed.

"Hmm… it depends, I suppose," Palpatine said casually, leaning back into his chair. "They've all had different experiences. You are the first _human_ Force-sensitive to be treated with it."

It was as if something exploded in her mind.

"You're _experimenting_ on me?!"

"Silence!" he snapped.

Jaina glared at him. He met her gaze evenly.

"Delik-66 only affects Force-sensitives, Jaina," Palpatine continued. "The scientists I took it from had already determined that non-Force-sensitives do not react to it in anyway. It has the potential to be the most powerful aide to those seeking the true meaning of the Force ever to exist. However, it has… imperfections. We do not know much about it—"

"So you test it," Jaina said. "On us. The Jedi who were turned into traitors by a treacherous governments. This is where most of the Jedi who weren't killed during Order Sixty-Sixty ended up, right? Congratulations, you've managed to turn an entire society into a pack of lab rats."

He chuckled. "Yes, I suppose it can be considered as such," Palpatine replied.

"You kriffing, sithspawned, son of a—"

"Language!" he snapped.

"I hardly think something like that matters at a time like now," Jaina scoffed. "Besides, it makes _me_ feel _better."_ Despite knowing it would do no good, she struggled to try to fall free of the force-field.

"Then enjoy it while it lasts," Palpatine sneered. "You do not have much time left in this universe, one way or another. Either I will kill you myself – which would indeed be a great pleasure – or the Delik-66 will have warped your being enough that _it_ will kill you."

"Lucky me," Jaina snapped. "The other Jedi died too, didn't they." She didn't need it to be a question.

"Yes, they perished. After a week. All were non-human. But you…" His eyes narrowed. "You have survived a very long time. Much longer than we predicted. As you are the first Force-sensitive human to be tested with it, it seems that humans are stronger than the other species."

Once again, Jaina's anger flared. She struggled against the force-field. If only she could escape its bonds, Palpatine would be a dead man. She could feel her blood boiling. She could not put words to her anger. Palpatine did not deserve a response from her. She would speak with action.

Palpatine was watching with detached curiosity. "So, you want freedom?" he hissed. "I'll give you freedom."

He gestured at the release button for the force-field. It was pressed and Jaina found herself falling. She landed flat on her back on the cold, hard floor. She felt her muscles weaken and suddenly she was paralyzed, unable to move. She stared at the ceiling, unable to move her head so as to see where Palpatine was.

"And how is your taste of freedom, Jaina Solo?" Sidious snarled. "Free from the cage? I hope you enjoy it while it lasts."

The dark room glowed red as he ignited his lightsaber. Jaina's heart pounded in her chest as she heard his footsteps vibrate through the floor. Her eyes searched for him, but she couldn't see anything except the table that held the Orbs of Kahran.

"Do you wish to fight me, Jaina Solo?" Sidious sneered as he came into her view, standing by her head, his lightsaber pointed at her throat. "Do you wish to challenge me, right here, right now? I know what lies in your heart. You want to kill me yourself. So – _do it._ If you can."

Jaina couldn't even move her lips properly to speak. She was forced into silence. Her eyes glanced at Palpatine and then at the table. She caught sight of the Orbs of Kahran. The Force was tingling inside her, flowing through her body. She breathed deeply, letting it guide her.

The red lightsaber hovered inches from her face.

"Do you want me to kill you?" Sidious said quietly, watching her very closely.

She was capable of just enough movement to smirk. At that moment, she tugged with the Force and the entire table flew towards them with such force that it knocked Palpatine to the ground. Jaina threw it aside and the black orbs tumbled and rolled down its side, spreading out over the floor. Palpatine scrambled to his feet, momentarily caught off his guard.

Jaina was ready for him. Though she herself could not physically move, her mind was strong enough to combat him. She had the orbs. Whatever connection she had with these mystical objects, it was strong. She could feel them clearly in her mind; she had control. Gathering them together from all the corners of the room, Jaina threw the orbs into whirling circles that sliced their way through the air towards the Sith Lord.

Palpatine hissed and dove out of the way, catching the first of the orbs with the tip of his lightsaber. The orb exploded in a shower of white sand. He tried to make his way back towards striking distance of Jaina, but the orbs forced him backwards again. Flying around him almost faster than the eye could see, the Sith Lord was moving right and left, his lightsaber working at a light, fast pace. One by one, the Orbs of Kahran exploded into white sand that cascaded on to the chamber floor. Soon enough, Jaina, who was still lying prone on the floor, was surrounded by the sand and partially covered with it.

Sidious knocked aside the final orb and sent it flying towards her. It disintegrated on its way, showering Jaina's face with white sand.

"Ingenious," Sidious snarled. "But not quite good enough."

Jaina didn't hear his words. Her ears were buzzing with the sounds of hundreds of voices speaking all at once. She was losing consciousness of who and where she was. Her vision began to blur and turn to white as a wave of power rose up through her, galvanizing every section of her body.

When Sidious finally reached striking distance of her, Jaina found herself lifted upwards by the power rushing through her. The Sith Lord was flung across the room, crashing into the opposite wall as Jaina was lifted higher into the air. She could not see anything now, nor hear or feel anything in the room. She was completely consumed by the energy given to her by the Orbs of Kahran.

A string of images flashed before her eyes. It was as if she was observing them from a great distance, yet they seemed strangely close. The lighting was distorted, the colouring unnaturally de-saturated.

_A white-haired woman speaks quietly with an old man in a large living room decorated with Nubian art. A sprawling city is bustling with traffic outside the large windows. The old man is in a powerchair. _

"_She knows what's coming," the old man says. _

"_Yes, Ben. But will she be ready?"_

_The old man looks like he is about to answer her, but then he turns his head and faces Jaina, speaking to her directly. "It's coming," he says, his voice monotone. "It's there – right on the horizon."_

_There is a jarring flash of light and the image fades into the next. A Jedi, his blue lightsaber ignited, runs down a large, dark throne room. Jaina cannot see his face, but she can hear his voice. _

"_If I don't make this sacrifice then the entire Galaxy will be lost forever."_

_He combats a shadowed man wielding a red lightsaber. _

"—_then the entire Galaxy will be lost forever."_

_The Jedi collapses in a cascade of white-blue sparks. He lies, as if dead, on his side. Suddenly, his eyes snap open. They are a brilliant shade of blue. _

"_It's there," he says, his voice the same monotone as the old man's had been. "It's coming – can't you feel it?" _

_The image fades to white and is quickly replaced by another. The sands of Tatooine glow red as the twin suns set. The cloaked man is standing next to the woman whose face belongs to her. _

"_Every path you have trod—" _

_He is suddenly kneeling on the ground. He picks up a handful of sand from the ground and lets it slip through his fingers. He turns, his luminescent violet eyes penetrating. _

"—_every path you have taken—"_

_Rain at the Imperial palace. Someone leaps off of a balcony and freefalls through the air. _

"—_has led to this."_

_The violet-eyed woman pulls her hood up and walks towards the sunset. Under the light of the twin suns, she is bathed in red. _

_She turns and looks directly at Jaina. When she speaks, her voice also has a monotonous quality. "It's here."_

_A dark red flower loses a petal. It drops slowly to the ground. _

"_We can't do this!" someone's voice shouts from far away. It is impossible to tell who it could be. _

_A ship is torn from orbit and begins to fall back into the atmosphere, headed to a crash-landing on the planet below. _

"_From the shadows walks the danger." The violet-eyed woman's voice echoes. _

_An ancient Duinuogwuin, his deep red scales glowing in the dark of a cave, slowly rises. _

_Fire. White flames. Red flames. Fire consumes everything. _

"_On the horizon."_

_She glances at Jaina, her luminescent eyes piercing. _

"_He is here."_

Jaina gasped and screamed as she returned to consciousness, falling from midair and slamming back into the floor. Her world was white. She was unable to see a thing.

Pain seared through her body, but she was able to move again. She felt exhausted. She crawled forward on her stomach, wondering where she was. She gasped for air and felt frozen to the bone, as if she had been held underwater for a very long period of time.

Finally, she stopped moving and collapsed on the floor. Her consciousness flickered. She fought to remain awake, but she was losing herself. Jaina was conscious enough to catch Sidious' last words before she faded to black.

"Most impressive, little Jedi," he hissed. "But your time is now passing quickly. I'll give you a few days more, but I _swear_ that power or no, Force or no, your life will end soon. You are too troublesome to be kept alive now. That was the last taste of power your pitiful little being will ever receive."


	51. Rescue Mission

**CHAPTER LI**

**Rescue Mission**

_Your time is now passing quickly. I'll give you a few days more, but I swear that power or no, Force or no, your life will end soon. You are too troublesome to be kept alive now._

Palpatine's voice echoed in Jaina's mind, the words returning to haunt her, continually refusing to leave. The entire incident that had taken place between the Sith Lord and the Jedi had shaken her to her bones. Never before had she felt such power rush through her. The memory of it still lay within her, giving her weakened body a small amount of strength she would have otherwise lacked after being released from the force field.

She was in her cell. As always, it was dark and she was unable to see the walls around her. Jaina lay curled on one side, her left arm pressed firmly against the cold, hard floor to give her some sense of stability she could not gain with her prosthetic one. How much longer now? Her entire life had revolved around life-or-death situations – in some ways, she had grown up with them – but now to be waiting in the silence and the dark for someone to come along and kill her was different. Her stomach tightened. It was impossible to keep track of time in this cell. She had tried calling out to the one person who always heard her, but A'Sharad was gone. He did not answer and there were no sounds from his side of the wall. Most likely the Emperor had dealt with him too, as was the fate of all Jedi in this prison.

Without warning, the door slid open. Light burst into the tiny room and Jaina flinched, shutting her eyes from the sharp pain that struck her eyes as the brightness flooded her cell. She sat up as a shadow crossed the light's path. It was not Krayt – this person was shorter than him. Jaina squinted and immediately recognized the dark-haired woman who was always present whenever they were required to bring Jaina from her cell to another part of the prison. However, she was always accompanied by other guards. This time she was alone.

Jaina slowly got to her feet. "What do you want?" she demanded, her voice hoarse.

The woman folded her arms as she leaned against the wall. "Oh, you really are a pitiful one, aren't you?" she said coldly. "What a performer, always playing the brave Jedi, yet here you are, desolate and…" There was something equivalent of a sneer in her eyes. "Lost," she finished, smirking.

Jaina's eyes narrowed. "Really? So, what are you going to do then? Taunt me to death?"

The woman's expression hardened. "No," she answered. "I have come out of curiosity. I am not a Jedi, I am not a Sith. The ways of the Force-sensitives are strange to me, but still they are merely beings, just like I am. And just like us _lesser_ mortals – as you seem to view us – there are several paths that you could have chosen to walk. From the reports you seemed like such a warrior. How does a woman of such status become what you have? It is clear that there is nothing left for you with the Jedi. There never will be. The Emperor gave you a way out. Why did you not choose it?"

Jaina's hands clenched as her eyes met the officer's cold gaze. She felt a strange, detached laughter begin in her stomach and suddenly she found herself chuckling. The woman did not look impressed.

After a moment, Jaina was able to control her laughter. "You're a fool," she said, "the prime example of a perfect Imperial. You take the quickest route to survival with no thought for the condition of anyone else. You take orders because it means that you get to keep your life. I won't submit to serving Palpatine forever. I refuse to. We have the power of choices. I'll control my own life."

The woman's cheeks flushed red. Her expression turned steely. "Don't you understand?" she hissed, unfolding her arms and stepping across the floor towards Jaina. "You _have_ no more choice. The Delik-66 is slowly killing you. It's infected you and it is out of your hands." She laughed coldly and then crossed the room to the door. Since she was standing in the harsh light of the corridor, Jaina could no longer see her face. "Before you die, I have one last thing to say to you. If you had joined the Emperor, he would have given you a cure."

The door slid shut, immediately blocking out the light. Jaina shivered. She did not want to believe the woman's words, but she could not help wondering if they were true. A cold, despairing feeling was beginning to rise in her. She fought to ignore it as she sat down and hugged her knees close to her body.

_No matter what happens to me, _she thought furiously, _your time is coming to an end, too, Sidious. _

* * *

The frosty sixth planet of the Hoth system loomed far away in the distance as their ship flew towards the asteroid field. Anakin's mind was so filled with anticipation of arriving at Kuduran that he could almost sense the prison. After all this time of searching, after all this time wondering whether Jaina was dead or alive, not knowing where she was or how much pain and torture the Sith Lord had put her through, Anakin was finally going to get some finality. Who knew what they were speeding towards? Palpatine had to be on that desolate piece of rock – and when Anakin did arrive, he meant to have an audience with his Highness. As soon as Jaina was in safe hands, Darth Sidious would be a marked man.

"Anakin, pay attention to what you are doing!" Obi-Wan's voice snapped.

Anakin blinked and saw the asteroid flying towards the ship. He immediately regained control and veered the ship to the left, darting in and out between the pieces of rock. "Better hang on," he said, glancing out the viewport at the labyrinth of asteroids outside. "This is going to get pretty bumpy."

Obi-Wan groaned. "This is why I hate flying!" he commented through clenched teeth.

Behind them, R2-D2 whirred.

"Quiet, Artoo, I'm trying to concentrate!" Anakin shouted.

"Yes, please, Artoo," Obi-Wan agreed fervently. "Let Anakin do his job."

Anakin rolled his eyes. It was always the same whenever Obi-Wan was in the co-pilot's seat.

Another asteroid shot towards them. The ship dropped and narrowly avoided it.

"You know," Anakin said, his mind carefully searching out other asteroids that could potential be on a collision course with the ship, "sometimes I don't understand why people do stupid things."

"_Really,"_ Obi-Wan said sarcastically.

"—like building an entire infrastructure that will _pound_—" they narrowly avoided another asteroid – "you to death if you're not careful." Anakin relaxed. "This is one hell of an asteroid field, even though it does make a great hiding spot."

Behind them, Kyp laughed.

"What?" Anakin swung his chair around.

"Jaina's father once navigated this asteroid field to escape Imperials," Kyp explained.

Anakin's ears perked up and his mind started to wander away from thoughts of asteroids and ships and prisons.

"Anakin—" Obi-Wan's voice warned.

"Really?" Anakin felt curiosity stirring. "So, he's a pilot?"

"Where do you think Jaina gets her talent?"

Anakin raised his eyebrows.

"Leia doesn't fly much," Kyp clarified.

"_Anakin!"_

"So?" Anakin said, ignoring replying to Obi-Wan and turning his chair around. He flew the ship upwards and out of the way of an oncoming asteroid. The current danger had passed, but Obi-Wan was still looking much discomforted. Anakin continued the conversation. "These things can… uh… miss a generation… or so."

"There are some very excellent pilots that don't need to rely on the Force to fly," Kyp pointed out. "Jaina's father is one of them."

"Huh."

"Do I sense disapproval?"

Obi-Wan glanced over his shoulder. "I think it's more along the lines of resentment."

"Master!" Anakin objected. "I'm trying to _fly_ here!"

"Then fly," Obi-Wan replied. "And – and try not to run into any asteroids!"

He still looked overly nervous. Anakin rolled his eyes. Obi-Wan was perfectly capable of flying, but it seemed that whenever Anakin himself was involved in the same flying as Obi-Wan, his old master got uptight and edgy.

It was not much later that the large asteroid upon which Kuduran was built came into sight. It was dark shadow on the surface of the rock. Similar to Desolation Alley, the prison was protected by energy shields. Transport ships and other varieties were arriving and leaving through a small hole in the shields.

As soon as he saw it, a shiver ran down Anakin's spine. They were almost there.

"How are we going to get in?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Same way we got into Desolation Alley," Anakin answered. He clenched his teeth, searching for a ship large enough for them to land the ship on and pass undetected through the energy shields.

"This isn't an ordinary prison," Obi-Wan said, "the security will be much higher—"

"Think I don't know that?" Anakin snapped. "I'm tired of sneaking. We'll just… smash our way in if we have to."

R2 beeped.

"Not now," Kyp told the droid flatly.

R2 beeped again, even more persistently.

"What?" Kyp demanded.

A string of furious electronic noises escaped the little droid. Anakin turned his head and glanced over his shoulder at R2. He had never seen the droid act like this before.

"All right, all right," he said. "What is it? Make is fast, I need to decide what to do."

R2 rolled towards the console and plugged himself in. A long strip of red letters flashed across the screen.

I WAS FORUNATE ENOUGH TO GREET THE CENTRAL COMPUTER SYSTEM AT DESOLATION ALLEY. IT TOLD ME THAT SOMEONE HAD LEFT NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE KUDURAN PRISON ON IT. I WAS ABLE TO NEGOTIATE TERMS THAT RELEASED THAT INFORMATION. THE PRISON SECURITY SYSTEM IS ABOUT TO ASK FOR ACCESS CODES. I CAN PROVIDE THEM FOR YOU. ONCE YOU ARE THROUGH, THEY WILL INSTRUCT YOU TO LAND AT A SPECIFIC DOCKING BAY. YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO IDENTIFY YOURSELVES, SOMETHING WHICH SHOULD NOT BE DIFFICULT FOR JEDI. YOU WILL THEN NEED TO PASS THROUGH A DOOR WHICH REQUIRES ANOTHER SET OF CODES THAT IS PROGRAMMED INTO PERSONNEL IDENTICARDS. STEAL ONE.

I AM UPLOADING THE ACCESS CODES SO YOU MAY TRANSMIT THEM TO THE PRISON SECURITY SYSTEM. STAY ON COURSE.

The ship continued on its way towards an opening in the energy shield. Anakin relaxed, staring fondly at the droid. "Artoo, what would I do without you?"

YOU WOULD HAVE NO ACCESS CODES. THANK YOU FOR THE COMPLIMENT.

"Well, that certainly makes things easier," Kyp said.

A voice came through on the system. _"Unidentified craft, you are heading into restricted territory. Identify yourselves and prepare to be boarded."_

"Spoke too soon," Obi-Wan muttered.

"Transmit the access codes, Artoo," Anakin said.

R2 beeped. The console screen flashed several times and the Jedi waited in silence for the response to come.

"_Permission to land in docking bay D-761 granted,"_ the voice said.

The ship passed through the energy shield without incident.

"Is that it?" Anakin asked, slightly bewildered. "I thought it would be harder." Shrugging, he set the ship on its course towards the docking bay.

"Why do I sense a trap?" Obi-Wan muttered.

"Master, to you, everything is a trap."

The ship glided towards the docking bay with ease. However, as they drew closer, Anakin was beginning to feel uncomfortable. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he tensed, his anticipation growing even stronger. Suddenly, everything around him blacked out.

"_Anakin!"_

His mind threw him back into the present moment just in time to careen the ship into the docking bay without crashing into anything. His hands were clenched so tightly on the yoke that his knuckles had turned white. For a moment, he thought that he had, in fact, gone blind but there was nothing wrong with his eyes.

The Force was gone. Anakin couldn't sense anything – none of the people moving around the docking bay, his companions, the ships, the prison – nothing. He shivered and slowly released his grip on the yoke. He glanced at his friends. Obi-Wan's face had paled. Kyp's expression was one of extreme revulsion.

"Ysalamiri," he muttered.

"What?" Anakin demanded.

"Ysalamiri," Kyp repeated. He stood up and signalled for the others to follow him. "They're creatures from Myrkr. They block the Force. The entire infrastructure must be filled with them – that's why none of the Jedi have been able to use the Force to escape from here. It's why we haven't been able to sense them. Why I haven't been able to sense Jaina since she threw my name into my mind when we all thought she was dead. She must have found a pocket that wasn't affected by them and used it to her best advantage." They rounded the corner of the ship. Kyp paused before hitting the button that would release the ramp. "If this base is filled with ysalamiri, then that means that Palpatine won't be able to feel it either. He won't be able to sense us—"

"And when we find him," Anakin finished, his eyes flashing, "then he'll just be a defenceless old man."

"Exactly," Kyp said. He punched the button and the ramp slowly lowered onto the docking bay floor.

They rushed down the ramp, R2 speeding after them. There were many personnel walking throughout the docking bay. Anakin quickly looked around, taking in the environment. They would need to ambush at least one or two to steal the identicards that they needed to access the rest of the infrastructure.

"Keep walking," Obi-Wan muttered under his breath, his eyes on the prison personnel who were watching them. "We're already drawing some suspicion. There's a terminal over there on the right side by the door. Have Artoo locate Jaina's cell. I'll go distract one of the guards."

Before Anakin could say anything, Obi-Wan slipped away and walked across the docking bay towards the closest guard. R2 beeped as he caught up with them and they continued on their way to the terminal. Once there, the droid plugged himself in and began sorting through information, which he then displayed on the corresponding screen. Anakin was reading the information as quickly as R2 gave it to him; Kyp kept an eye out for any approaching guards.

"She's in cell 1296 in cell-block K-132 on level nine," Anakin muttered under his breath. "Artoo is giving us a general location, but he can't seem to pull up a plan – wait."

"What?" Kyp turned around. R2 beeped hesitantly as both Jedi read the information at the same time.

"They're going to kill her," Anakin breathed.

"In less than an hour!" Kyp hissed.

They both turned around as R2 unplugged himself from the terminal. They headed towards the door, but couldn't get through as they did not have access yet.

"Where's Obi-Wan?" Anakin demanded.

As if on cue, Obi-Wan reappeared. There was an identicard in his hand. "I was only able to get hold of this one," he said, holding it up for examination by the computer at the door. There was a beeping sound and the door slid open. They passed through quickly before it shut behind them.

"What did you do?" Anakin asked. "You can't have mind-tricked him—"

"I used the smugglers' equivalent," Obi-Wan said simply. "I knocked him out and hid him somewhere they won't find him for a good long while."

Anakin chuckled reluctantly.

"We have to hurry," Kyp said quickly. "We've got less than an hour to find Jaina – she's been scheduled for termination."

Obi-Wan's expression hardened. "Was Artoo able to get a plan of the building?"

R2 beeped a negative.

"Then let's hurry."

* * *

"You called for me, your Highness." Ursel Isard knelt on the floor at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the Emperor's throne. His back was turned away from her at the moment; the Emperor's gaze met only with the vastness of space that could be seen out of the large window that took up much of one wall in the throne room. It was here that the Emperor was in command of his full power as this was the only place where there was a ban on the presence of ysalamiri. The creatures could be moved around the infrastructure to allow the presence of the Force where the Emperor desired it, but there would never been one anywhere near the throne room.

"Yes, Ursel." His throne swivelled around. "I did."

Isard kept her head bowed. Now that Krayt was gone, fallen out of favour and only a mere annoyance on the shoulder of the great leader, she was the Emperor's favourite. Had she been Force-sensitive, she would no doubt have been made his new apprentice. However, this was a gleeful little fact that she kept to herself at all times – there was no point in endangering her position by making it look like she was ready to rise above her station. Still, she couldn't help but evoke a small smile as of all the officers in command of posts at Kuduran, she was the only one whom the Emperor called by first name.

"You may rise, Ursel."

She slowly got to her feet. Emperor Palpatine looked down at her, his expression unreadable. "Come, my dear," he said, standing up and gesturing for her to join him. "We have an incident to discuss."

Isard quickly stepped up the stairs and joined the Emperor at the top. They walked towards the window and watched the asteroids float by.

"There has been an intrusion," the Emperor said.

"Of what kind?" Isard inquired.

"It seems as though Jaina Solo's Jedi friends have finally made it to Kuduran," the Emperor said. "It was only a matter of time before they did. Anakin Skywalker is one of the most stubborn men I have ever met – when he sets out to do something, he will do it no matter what the cost." There was a mocking expression on the Emperor's face. He was in control. The Jedi would be in for a surprise when they tried to rescue Solo. Isard knew it.

"What would you like me to do?" Isard asked. "Hunt down these Jedi and put them in their place?"

"I know it is very much what you would like, Ursel," the Emperor said, smiling at her. His eyes glittered. "But there are events afoot that one such as yourself would never fully comprehend. The Jedi will be forced to separate. Two will go to Jaina Solo's cell. The other will find me. I want you to carry out Jaina Solo's scheduled termination before the two Jedi searching for her arrive at her cell. Then, when they do come, I want you to kill them. They will be hindered by their inability to feel the Force, but be warned – these are two of the most dangerous and skilled men you will ever encountered. I need someone I can trust to carry out these plans. You are the most suited officer."

"Thank you for your selection, your Highness," Isard said. "It will be done."

"Then you are dismissed."

Isard bowed and began down the steps, her head held high and her back straight. She would carry out this mission. She was more than a match for two Jedi, Force or no Force.

"Oh, and Ursel," the Emperor called.

She turned. "Yes, your Highness?"

For a split second, it seemed as if the Emperor's eyes flashed red.

"Do not fail me."

* * *

The corridors of the prison were strangely quiet. The Jedi barely passed anyone as they wove their way through the labyrinth of white halls, trying to find the closest elevator. The docking bay was on level two and they would need to descend seven more levels if they were going to find Jaina's cellblock.

And they were running out of time.

"Artoo, do you think that you can try again?" Anakin asked. "We're not getting anywhere."

The droid beeped and whirred.

"Artoo," Anakin snapped.

The droid whirred again and trundled over to the nearest terminal and plugged himself in. Several officers passed by while they waited. Anakin kept his eye on them until they turned the corner and went out of sight.

Suddenly, alarms blared. R2 whirred very loudly and shot himself backwards, colliding with the opposite wall. He beeped and twittered unhappily.

"What just happened?" Anakin asked.

"The terminals inside the prison must be encoded," Kyp muttered. "Artoo wasn't allowed through and accidentally set off the alarms—"

"—and alerted them to our position," Obi-Wan finished. "Run!"

They turned and ran as guards came around the corner, their blasters pointed directly at them. Anakin swore under his breath as his natural reaction to the attack was quickly exterminated – there was no way to access the Force and utilize it to throw the guards off. Given time to adjust, Anakin was sure that he could take them on, but he couldn't help but remember all the times in the past months when he had barely survived being assaulted by throngs of troops and how it had only been his connection to the Force that had allowed him to live without sustaining any major injuries. The Force was deep at the core of his being; to be separated from it was worse than when he had lost his arm. For one instant, as he sprinted down the hall, he almost felt helpless. No matter of searching would return it to him.

The Jedi spun around a corner in the corridor and cantered down the hall. Anakin glanced over his shoulder – the guards were not very far behind them. Three of the soldiers that were in the lead fired at them as they ran. Anakin ducked, avoiding the blaster bolt and rushed after Obi-Wan and Kyp.

Prior to arriving at Kuduran, Anakin had known that breaking Jaina out was going to be difficult. But now, _everything_ was going to be even more difficult than it should be. He was wondering how they were going to possibly throw the guards off their backs when something Obi-Wan had said only several minutes ago came back to him. _"I used the smugglers' equivalent."_

If non-Force sensitives could break into all sorts of interesting and dangerous places, then so could he.

Up ahead, R2 beeped at him. Anakin sprinted down the corridor and caught up with the droid and their companions.

"Why are we stopping?" he demanded as he skidded to a halt.

"I think Artoo managed to slice some useful information from the central computer before it locked him out," Kyp said, glancing at the little droid as he trundled up to the door they were standing beside. "He was insistent that we stop here."

Anakin looked down at R2. "I hope he's not about to short-circuit on us," he groaned, "because that would mean we are in a lot of trouble."

The sounds of stampeding boots on durasteel echoed down the hall. Anakin unclipped his lightsaber. Even though the balance of the weapon would be off as he could not feel the Force and wield it as it should, he was not entirely defenceless. Neither were his companions – despite being temporarily disabled, the guards should not be able to take three of them down. Instead, the guards would slow them down and the Jedi were on a very tight schedule.

"Come on, Artoo," Anakin muttered.

R2 whirred at him. Moments later, the door slid open and Anakin darted through it ahead of Kyp and Obi-Wan.

He wasn't expecting what was behind the door. Anakin found himself sprinting on to a long bridge that spanned immediately deep chasm of what appeared to be the central core shaft of the building. Small lights lined the smooth durasteel walls, providing the only light in the vast, dark space. He slowed himself to a stop about halfway across to allow him to look back at his companions. Kyp was already running towards him, but Obi-Wan was waiting for R2 to make it through.

"Master!" Anakin called.

"Keep going," Obi-Wan called back. "I'll make sure that those guards won't be getting through any time soon."

Anakin nodded and sprinted to the end of the bridge, Kyp following him. R2 twerped as he came through the door and Obi-Wan flicked one of the levers on the control panel, closing the door and sealing them off from their pursuers. With that accomplished, Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber just as Kyp reached the end of the bridge and stood beside Anakin. He and Anakin watched as Obi-Wan plunged his lightsaber through the control panel, making sure that the door could not be opened easily by a control override. With that complete, he began sprinting across the bridge, R2 rolling along beside him.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and Obi-Wan flew backwards, landing near the edge of the side of the bridge. R2 was shaken from his position and fell over with a thump, whirring madly. There was a clang and the bridge detached from Anakin and Kyp's side and began retracting towards its point of origin.

"Master!" Anakin shouted.

Obi-Wan threw himself to his feet and sprinted back to the landing as R2 ignited his arm-rockets and blasted upwards into the air just as his patch of bridge disappeared. The bridge was quickly catching up with Obi-Wan. At the last moment, he flung himself forwards just as the bridge disappeared from under his feet and caught hold of the very edge of the landing. He struggled for a few moments before managing to pull himself up and on to the stable surface of the landing. R2 alighted next to him.

"Are you all right?" Anakin called across the chasm.

"I'm fine, Anakin," Obi-Wan answered. "You two go on and find Jaina. We're running out of time, don't worry about me. R2 and I will get out of this."

Anakin swore under his breath. He didn't want to leave Obi-Wan stranded on the other side, but there was no way for him to cross. The controls were completely disabled and they couldn't waste time trying to find another way. They would have to separate.

Anakin glanced at Kyp.

"There's no time," he said.

"I'll be fine!" Obi-Wan said.

Anakin nodded. "We'll catch you up," he called.

"Anakin, go!"

With one last look over his shoulder, Anakin turned and ran through the door leading out to the corridor. He just hoped that Obi-Wan would be able to find a way out of the mess.

_Concentrate, Anakin,_ he told himself firmly. _You need to find Jaina. _

He and Kyp skidded to a halt at an intersection of the corridors. There were no signs of where in the prison they were. Anakin looked around hurriedly for somewhere to go, somewhere to run that made sense. The alarms continued to blare in his ears – the sound was deafening.

"Oh, _shut up!"_ he snapped at the ceiling.

A red light flashed by one of the doors, catching Anakin's attention. As he turned towards it, it slid open and four officers exited. They spotted Anakin and Kyp, who had not had time to hide. Knowing that there was an impending fight coming up, the two Jedi ignited their lightsabers. There wasn't going to be an easy way out of this.

"The intruders!"

Anakin ducked. Instead of trying to fight back, he flung himself by the Imperials and into the lift. The moment Kyp flew into it, Anakin jammed the button that closed the door and they zoomed downwards and away.

"Well," Kyp said, "that was different."

Anakin was about to reply when the lift jerked to an abrupt halt, throwing both of them off-balance.

* * *

The alarms were still blaring loudly as Obi-Wan heard the clicking sounds from the opposite side of the door that were a result of the Imperials attempting to get it open. He glanced at R2, who was whirring and beeping worriedly at his side.

"No chance of getting me across, eh, Artoo?" he asked.

The droid beeped a negative.

"That's unfortunate."

R2 bleeped his agreement.

"What do you say we do, Artoo?" Obi-Wan said. "Bust our way out of here and lead them on a wild bantha chase?"

R2 beeped.

"Yes, I thought so, too."

The door slid open. A dozen soldiers with their blasters raised faced Obi-Wan and he lifted his hands up in surrender as a leader stepped forwards to speak.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," the officer said, "I am placing you under arrest for infiltration of two prison bases, crimes against the Empire and treason committed against the Emperor himself."

"How wonderfully exciting," Obi-Wan said blithely. "Don't you think so, Artoo?"

R2 bleeped fervently.

"Unfortunately, officer," he added, "being arrested really isn't my style."

He ignited his lightsaber and threw himself forwards just as R2 blasted forwards on his arm-rockets, knocking half of the guards over as they tried to avoid being fried by the dual combination of the droid's small blasts of flame and the Jedi's lightsaber. Obi-Wan ducked several blaster bolts that the remaining soldiers fired at him, but he was already out of their reach and sprinting down the hall before they could re-ground. R2 rolled after him.

One of the major difficulties with Imperial centres was that everything looked the same. The halls were stark white and twisted their way around each other so much so that it soon became difficult to tell which way one had come and which intersection one had reached. It was only when the shade of the corridors' walls changed to a darker grey that Obi-Wan knew that he had left one section behind.

Now the thing to do was to find some sort of schematics of the place.

The sound of guards running up and down the halls followed them everywhere they went. Now searching the grey-walled corridors for a computer terminal, Obi-Wan sped around a corner and came face to face with the unwanted attention of a dozen or so blasters pointed in his direction.

"Oh, not good."

R2 beeped wildly. Obi-Wan turned and ran back around the corner, dashing down a different corridor, listening to the sounds of the approaching guards. Knowing that it was impossible to run forever without being caught, he began looking for some place to hide until the guards passed him and he could leave in the opposite direction from which they came. Darting down one of the darker corridors, Obi-Wan rushed passed a door. He skidded a stop and slammed his palm against the button that should have opened it. He swore under his breath when it didn't, cursing the ysalamiri for his inability to connect with the Force in this prison.

"Artoo, can you get this door open?" Obi-Wan asked.

The droid bleeped and rolled over to inspect the door. He whirred and beeped for several long moments before the door sprang open. Obi-Wan quickly entered the dimly lit room and R2 trundled inside after him. The door slid shut behind them, just in time before several guards made their way down the hall outside.

Obi-Wan stood still in the dark, listening to his own shallow breath as he focused on the voices of the guards.

"Split up," one of them commanded, "the Jedi should be around here somewhere."

Their footsteps echoed down the hall, getting farther and farther away.

They were gone.

Obi-Wan let out a sigh of relief and then turned to see exactly what he had wandered into. As he began moving, dim lights snapped on one at a time overhead, slowly shedding light on the room.

Computers, screens and strange equipment were scattered throughout the low-ceilinged chamber. Obi-Wan walked through it, inspecting some of the equipment and glancing at the computers, all of which were humming with activity, flashing words and numbers across their screens. R2 bleeped uncertainly.

"What is this place?"

* * *

The jolt had thrown Anakin to the floor, but as he tried to get up, the sudden momentum of the lift flying upwards threw him careening into the wall. Pulling himself up, Anakin looked around for the quick exit that would be necessary if the elevator stopped where he thought it would stop.

"Up," he said.

"What?" Kyp asked.

"Up," Anakin confirmed, still staring at the ceiling. "There should be a hatch or something that will lead us to the top of the lift."

Kyp raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Anakin grunted. "And therefore when the Imperials come to call, as they will be doing in a very short amount of time, they won't be able to find us because we'll be on top of the lift."

Kyp stared at him, his expression unchanging.

"It's no worse than the air duct plan!" Anakin protested.

Kyp sighed and glanced upwards. "Do you see a hatch, Anakin?"

"Uh…" Anakin looked up again. To his dismay, the ceiling was quite smooth, unblemished by hatches of any kind. "No." He paused. "We could make one?" He raised his lightsaber hilt.

"Right, and all the Imps will have to do is follow the piece of ceiling that will be on the floor back to where it came from," Kyp said sarcastically. "'Hmm, I wonder where this random piece of metal came from? Oh, they must be on the roof!"

Anakin exhaled sharply. "Point." He grunted. "So, what then?"

"Easy solution," Kyp said. "We're going down. Hang on to something."

Before Anakin could say anything, Kyp stabbed his crimson lightsaber into the lift control panel. Immediately the elevator came to a screeching halt, throwing Kyp backwards into the wall. His lightsaber fell and deactivated itself as it hit the floor. Kyp reached for it as it began rolling to the other side of the car. There was the sound of metal slowly moving against metal. The lights flickered and there was a high-pitched screeching sound before the lift dropped downwards, whooshing towards the bottom of the shaft at an increasingly fast pace. Anakin kept still as the lift rattled, picking up speed. Suddenly, the lift jerked to a stop, throwing Anakin and Kyp to opposite sides of the car. The lights went out, leaving them in the dark.

There was a tiny beep and then the door creaked open.

"Level nine," Kyp said, getting to his feet.

Anakin quickly stood up and they exited the lift. The corridors were bright white and took off in several directions. There were no alarms sounding down here and all was deathly quiet.

"This is _not_ working," Anakin groaned, glancing at the multiple routes. "I don't even know which way to start."

"And we're running out of time," Kyp said flatly.

The words were barely out of his mouth when a lone guard came running down the hall to inspect the commotion the lift had made when coming down the shaft. He caught sight of Anakin and Kyp and immediately reached for his comm, but Anakin was too fast for him. Flying at the guard, he delivered a well-aimed punch that knocked the Imperial off his feet. Anakin snatched the binders that were clipped to the guard's utility belt and quickly bound his hands behind his back before seizing the comm and crushing it with his boot.

"We're on a bit of a tight schedule," Anakin said in the guard's ear, holding him in a tight headlock. "It would be a very good idea to tell us where cell 1296 in cell-block K-132 is. They're holding a Jedi there. Ringing any bells?"

The guard choked.

"Anakin," Kyp said, "you're holding him too tightly, he can't talk."

"Oh." He eased up his grip.

The Imperial coughed and spluttered before recovering enough breath to speak. "Yes. I know where that is. But I won't be taking you there."

Kyp ignited his lightsaber. "That's really not necessary," he said darkly. "We'll find it on our own if you give us the precise directions. I'd really suggest doing just that. Accidents aren't likely to be pleasant."

The guard's eyes widened. "All right, all right!" he choked. "I'll tell you where it is, just don't hurt me!"

Anakin released his grip slightly and dragged the Imperial to his feet. "Tell. Now."

"Straight down this hall, turn left at the third intersection, right at the second intersection from there and then the entrance to cell-block K-132 is the first large door on your right. You'll need an access key to get through."

Kyp leaned forwards and grabbed the guard's identicard. "Will this do?"

The guard nodded nervously. "The cells are numbered. It should be easy enough to find it."

"Let's go," Kyp said.

Anakin nodded, dropping the guard on the floor. They sprinted down the corridor, whipping around the corner as they followed the guard's directions. Anakin glanced at his chrono as they ran. The bright red numbers flashed before his eyes. They were almost out of time.

The Jedi skidded to a halt in front of the door. Anakin pressed the identicard against the scanner for identification and the door slid open. They sprinted inside, the grey walls of the cell-block flashing by as they searched for Jaina's cell.

There was a bend in the cell-block. Anakin and Kyp, following the bright numbers above each of the cells, turned the corner and suddenly skidded to a stop.

Up ahead, there was a cell that had been opened. There were several guards standing near it.

"Jaina," Kyp breathed.

Without waiting for Anakin, he dashed forwards. The guards, alerted by the sound of Kyp's stampeding boots on the floor, turned and fired at him. Kyp ignited his lightsaber and managed to deflect a few of the blaster bolts without even needing to Force to sense where they were going to go. Anakin sped after him, igniting his own blade, and leapt into the fray.

Blaster bolts bounced around the corridor. Red light flashed and was re-directed as it collided with the lightsabers' blades. However, the space was too narrow and without the Force, the close combat was endangering Anakin and Kyp of being shot by one of the bolts deflected off their own lightsabers. Anakin dove out of the way of another shot, rolled on the floor and leapt back up to his feet, knocking one of the guards to the ground while Kyp grappled with another. Once the guard was disarmed, the Jedi charged towards the cell and ducked into the cell.

Anakin took in the scene with one sweep of his eyes. There were several guards in the cell, along with a black-haired woman who was clearly their leader. Jaina was on the floor, her eyes closed, struggling to rise to face her enemy, but it was evident that she had almost no strength at all. Anakin's breath caught in his throat when he saw her – she was almost unrecognizable. She ws dressed in a grey prison uniform, her hair had been shorn off, and her body was covered with bruises and cuts and lacerations that twisted over her left arm, some of which were half-healed. Where her right arm should have been was a metal prosthetic.

Anakin's own metal hand clenched into a fist.

"Jaina!"

Kyp rushed towards her, but he was stopped by the guards who seized him. The black-haired woman turned to face Anakin, her cold eyes narrowed. "I was expecting you, Jedi," she said.

"Kyp? Anakin?" Jaina's hoarse voice groaned quietly from the floor. She opened her eyes, but she seemed to have difficulty focusing her vision.

"I'm here, Jaina," Kyp said, struggling against the guards' grasp.

Anakin raised his lightsaber, its blade casting blue light around the small, dark cell. "Release her," he stated, his eyes boring into the Imperial's. "Now."

The woman laughed, smirking. "I don't think so. You see, Jedi," she said, "I am in control here. There is no Force for you to manipulate to your advantage. You are outnumbered, outmatched. So put that toy away and come along quietly. I have business with the girl that needs completion."

"If you think that Jedi are helpless without the Force, you are wrong," Anakin snapped.

"Is that a challenge?" the woman responded, raising her eyebrows.

"Try me," Anakin hissed.

The woman chuckled. "Not today, Anakin Skywalker," she said. "Not today. Guards," she commanded, "seize him."

Anakin attempted to strike out at them before they reached him, but the soldiers were too fast. They grabbed him from behind, taking his lightsaber from his hand. Anakin snarled and fought against their grasp. "Who are you?" he shouted.

The woman's expression remained unchanged. "Very well, then," she said. "I am Ursel Isard and I am the woman who is going to kill you."

"I thought you'd leave that up to your Emperor," Anakin hissed. "Or do you want to take the grandeur of killing the Chosen One for yourself?"

"Hmm." She paused. "Yes, I do."

"Challenge accepted," Anakin snarled. He jammed his arms down abruptly, the force of the action pulling his captors down with them. He managed to kick both of them in the head before picking up his lightsaber and activating it. The woman's hand slid into her holster and pulled out a small, compact blaster.

Behind them, Kyp managed to free himself from one of the guards.

Isard fired at Anakin, but the blast missed him and struck the wall. The second bolt bounced off his blade and careened into the far wall of the cell. Jaina cried out, unable to see what was going on.

"Better be careful," Isard taunted, "or Solo could end up dead by your own hand, Skywalker."

She fired again and Anakin dove out of the way. He was now at the door with Isard advancing on him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kyp deliver a blow to the second guard, which knocked him against the wall. The Imperials now out of the way, he rushed to Jaina's side.

Red light flew towards Anakin and he spun out of the way and into the cell-block corridor.

"Better watch your step," Isard hissed, keeping her blaster on him as she advanced.

Anakin raised his lightsaber. "Oh, I am always very careful."

He launched himself at her. Her weapon fired just as his lightsaber swung towards her chest. The motion set her off-balance, causing her to fall sideways. The blaster bolt flew into the opposite wall, charring it, and Anakin's lightsaber plunged into the wall he was now facing. He caught Isard with his left hand, pinning her against the wall close to the spot where his saber was slowly melting the durasteel. Her eyes glanced up at the sparks and soft, red-hot metal that was so close to the top of her head.

"I'll have you know that I have no aversions whatsoever in killing you right now," he hissed.

Her eyes met his and she tilted her head. "Doesn't that speak against your precious Jedi code?" she sneered. She struggled against his grip, but Anakin pressed her even tighter against the wall.

"There is no code now," he snarled. "The Jedi Order doesn't exist anymore. But what I do have is my conscience and you know what? I think I can deal with your death."

Isard tutted mockingly. "What a shame," she said, her eyes boring into his. "You would have made an excellent Imperial. The Emperor was wrong to give up on you so easily."

Anakin sneered. "The Emperor isn't going to make it out of here _alive."_

"Heh." Isard shrugged. "You'll be surprised what your enemy can do when you're not expecting it."

Anakin cried out as a sharp pain shot through his upper arm from where his prosthetic arm connected with his real one. Isard's grasp was tight as she twisted his arm behind his back in a ruthless movement. His lightsaber fell from his grasp, deactivating when it thudded to the floor. Isard swiftly picked it up and ignited it, bringing the blue blade so close to his neck that Anakin thought that his skin was going to burn.

"How poetic it will be," Isard whispered in his ear, "that the great Jedi Skywalker is killed by his own blade?"

"You wish," Anakin hissed back. He tugged sharply and his metal arm slid free from her grip. Isard gasped in pain as the quick movement of the metal torn the upper layer of the skin of her palm. As she was momentarily distracted, Anakin grasped her other hand and pulled the hilt of his lightsaber free. Raising it, he lunged at her but she kicked him in the shins, causing him to crash into her, pinning her on the floor beneath him. Isard snarled as Anakin lifted his lightsaber once again. Blue light cascaded over her face.

"Going to kill me?" she snarled.

Before Anakin could respond, a sharp pain ripped into his side. He howled, falling backwards onto the floor. He saw Isard's cold eyes reflect the light of his lightsaber for an instant and then the blade plunged into her chest. Her body went limp as sparks glanced off her face and then her eyes glazed over, all signs of life leaving her.

Anakin deactivated his lightsaber and sat on the cold floor, wincing with every movement he made. He looked down and saw the handle of a vibroblade sticking out of his side. Gritting his teeth, he took hold of the handle and pulled the blade out. The thin, short blade was smeared with blood. Exhausted, Anakin pressed a hand to his side and leaned forwards and used the vibroblade to cut a band of material from Isard's uniform. Leaning back against the wall, he lifted his tunic and wrapped the cloth strip tightly around his stomach.

"Anakin, I need your help!" Kyp's voice called desperately from inside the cell.

Anakin used the wall to pull himself to his feet and he stumbled along into the cell. Jaina had collapsed onto the floor, her head cradled in Kyp's lap. His face was pale.

"She fell unconscious when you started your fight with Isard," he said. "I haven't been able to wake her. She's been tortured badly." A mixture of fury and anxiousness came over is expression. "Is Isard dead?" he asked, glancing at him.

Anakin nodded.

Kyp's eyes flickered to the blood on Anakin's side and hand. "She stabbed you?"

Anakin nodded. "Hurts like hell," he said, wincing, "but I don't think she punctured anything vital. I'll live."

Their eyes returned to Jaina's limp form.

"Help me with her," Kyp said.

Anakin clipped his lightsaber back on his belt, wiped the blood off the vibroblade and slipped it into a pocket. Kneeling down, he put one of Jaina's arms over his shoulders and helped Kyp lift her off the ground. Together, they half-carried, half-dragged her out of the cell, Anakin limping slightly under Jaina's weight.

"Guards will be back soon," Kyp said darkly as they made their way back down the corridor, negotiating their way by the unconscious guards they had knocked out when they had made their initial assault. "We're not out of this yet."

"No," Anakin said. An image of Palpatine flashed in his mind.

"No, we aren't."

* * *

There was something menacing about the room. There was a greenish cast to the lighting and it was eerily dim and cold. As Obi-Wan walked through the chamber, an ominous feeling kept resurfacing, more present now than ever. There was something very odd about this room, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what.

From his observations, it looked as though it was some kind of experimental station. There were lab benches that supported vials of liquids of strange colours. There were several evil-looking devices that he couldn't quite decide what they were for before realizing that he probably didn't want to find out. He stopped by one of the labs and picked up a vial of a bright yellow liquid.

There was a very loud bleep behind him and Obi-Wan jumped in surprise. He spun around and almost cracked the vial as his hand grasped it tightly. R2-D2 whirred in front of him. Obi-Wan sighed.

"Really, Artoo, would you mind being more careful?" he asked.

The droid let out a string of bleeps and bloops, some of which were slightly apologetic in sound. He then spun around and rolled towards one of the computer terminals, beeping all the way.

"What did you find?" Obi-Wan said, following him.

R2 beeped loudly.

"All right, all right, give me a moment."

Obi-Wan arrived at the computer and looked at the screen. There appeared to be a data sheet pulled up on the screen, but what the data was for, he couldn't tell at first glance. His eyes flickered to the top.

_Delik-66. Creator: Jarvlis Arkheenan. Date Retrieved: 6497:5:15._

Obi-Wan shivered as he stared at the date. Something about it wasn't right. If it was written in the ReSynchronization format, then this date was centuries in the future.

_Palpatine,_ he thought.

"This is not good, Artoo," he said.

R2 beeped in agreement.

Obi-Wan continued to read. Beneath the name of the substance, the name of the creator and the date, there was a list of "test subjects." The first on the list was that of Master Agen Kolar. Obi-Wan froze and he re-read the entry.

_Agen Kolar. Male Zabrak. Jedi Master. One and a half weeks. Deceased. _

The next entry was similar and no less chilling.

_Kit Fisto. Male Nautolan. Jedi Master. Half a week. Deceased._

Obi-Wan's heart pounded as he continued to read the listing of test subjects, all of whom were Jedi and all of whom were non-human. His fingers clenched into fists. All of them were dead. He finally knew what had happened to them in the end. Many of the Jedi he had known were listed here.

_So this is what the Empire does with its captives,_ he thought furiously. _Throws them into prison, tortures and experiments on them, degrading them and ultimately killing them with this Delik-66, whatever it is. _

He was about to turn away when the final name on the list caught his eye.

_Jaina Solo. Female Human. Jedi Knight. Test malfunction. _

"Oh, no," he breathed. Needing to know what was in her file, Obi-Wan selected her name. The screen flashed as the file downloaded and he began to read. As he scanned the information, he froze, unable to move, his eyes glued to the screen.

R2 beeped inquiringly.

Obi-Wan ignored him and continued to stare at the screen. His brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of the data.

"What the hell?"


	52. Through the Fire

**CHAPTER LII**

**Through the Fire**

There had been so many times in his life when Obi-Wan had wanted to sink into the rage and hatred that aligned itself with the power of the dark side: the death of his master, Qui-Gon; the carnage brought on by the Clone Wars; the destruction of the Jedi Order. He had never let himself give in to it. But as he read the information supplied by this database, he could feel the hatred unfold within him – blinding wrath towards Darth Sidious, the man who had orchestrated the devastation that came to the Galaxy and would continue to haunt it for many years to come.

"Who could do this?" he said quietly, his voice lost in the silent rage that threatened to take over. "What kind of monster would be capable of doing _this_ to another living being?"

R2-D2 whirred a forlorn note.

_Over a period of six weeks since her admittance to the facility and the first administration of Delik-66,_ _the Jedi Jaina Solo has undergone extensive changes of which have never been seen in any of the other test patients. As was standard procedure, a monitoring chip was placed in the subject's arm and within the first three days it was evident that the subject was reacting abnormally to the substance. In every other case, the test subject's midichlorians were affected in such a way that their count began to decrease until the subject was dead. In Solo's case, the opposite effect was achieved. The standard fluctuation of midichlorians induced by the effect of the body adjusting to the initial encounter with Delik-66_ _occurred over a three day period before the subject's midichlorians began to replicate at an increasingly faster rate each day. The subject's midichlorian count was recorded each day and the replication charted. Solo's midichlorian count at the time of the project's termination was 27,000 – the same midichlorian count belonging to Anakin Skywalker, the known "Chosen One" of prophecy and supposedly the most powerful Force-sensitive ever to exist. _

_There are several speculations as to why Solo's body reacted in such a way to the influence of Delik-66: _

_1) The subject is the first human to receive an injection of the substance. Perhaps it is the nature of the human body to have the opposite reaction to the substance than near-humans or alien species. This hypothesis, when compared to the notes of Delik-66's creator, Jarvlis Arkheenan, seems unlikely given the drastically different response of the near-humans in comparison to Solo's._

_2) The subject's ancestry. Solo is of direct descent of Anakin Skywalker, whose own parentage is of questionable circumstances. The majority of evidence points towards midichlorians being influenced to create Skywalker inside his mother's womb. The Skywalker line is documented as the most powerful line of Force-sensitives in the history of the Galaxy. Arkheenan's notes points to genealogy as a major factor in the effects of Delik-66. _

_3) The subject has time traveled. Arkheenan hypothesized that the effects of traveling through the vortex from the future would have had put slight alterations on a time traveler's body not present in those who have not experienced such an event. Arkheenan notes that there is a kind of radiation absorbed by the travelers that will stay with them forever. Considering the evolution of Delik-66, it is most likely that this is the source of Solo's abnormal reaction as the substance was able to tap into that radiation and use it to target the midichlorians in such a fashion to cause them to replicate._

_Delik-66 is imperfect as whether it increases or decreases the midichlorian count in a being, the ultimate result is fatal. Extrapolation of Solo's given data with reference to Arkheenan's notes has shown repeatedly that there will come a point where the subject's midichlorian count becomes too high and the subject will "dissolve" into the Force, ceasing to exist. There were hopes to use Solo's case to find a cure for this failure; however the Emperor has, as of now, annulled the experiment and we have declared the case a test malfunction._

_Garin Marek, Lead Correspondent_

Obi-Wan felt his blood run cold. "Artoo," he said, "can you download this?"

R2 beeped uncertainly. He rolled over and plugged himself into the computer, his lights blinking as he attempted to slip past the barriers that protected the information. Obi-Wan waited, his hand clenched around his lightsaber hilt. Even if they managed to survive and made it out alive, Jaina was still going to die. There would be no stopping it, no halting the process that they had induced here. Palpatine had made sure that if Jaina did not join him, he could still use her for his benefit and have a way of killing her in the end.

What kind of person would be capable of this? Even Sith Lords had principles that were obeyed at all times, but Sidious was acting without fear of consequence. This Delik-66, whatever it was, came from the future if that retrieval date was anything to go by. Only Sidious could have brought it here, to this present moment, for his experiments. The danger of such an act was almost incomprehensible – time was one of the untouchable forces of the universe. Obi-Wan could not pretend to be an expert on the subject, but he could still manage to put the clues together. To travel through it was one thing. To deliberately steal future technology and bring it back to the present time was another. Time had already been bent out of place with the appearance of Jaina and Kyp. Palpatine's act would only splinter the timeline further, of which the dangers were unfathomable. Was Sidious so confident in his vision for the future that he thought he could even bend time to his will?

The man was a psychopath.

R2 whirred and detached himself. His lights flashed and he continued to speak in a garble of electronic noises.

"Got it, Artoo?" Obi-Wan asked.

The droid beeped affirmative.

"Let's go."

He darted across the room, palmed the door open.

"Artoo, come on!" Obi-Wan called over his shoulder.

R2 whistled and started trundling towards the open door. Obi-Wan turned and walked out of the room – and stopped. Standing in front of him, surrounded by clones with their blasters pointed directly at him, was none other than the Emperor himself. Obi-Wan raised his hands and one of the clones approached, taking his lightsaber from him. Obi-Wan's eyes stayed on the Emperor – absolute fury and loathing for the man was rising up inside him. If he hadn't been surrounded by a void in the Force at this moment, he was sure that he would be duelling Sidious at this very moment.

Palpatine looked almost exactly the same as he had the last time Obi-Wan had seen him face-to-face. There was one crucial difference – gone was Sidious' need to hide his true identity from the Jedi he encountered. His expression was now one of malice and proud cruelty, fuelled by the knowledge that he held the upper hand against his enemies. The Emperor was in control, and he would let everyone know.

"Darth Sidious."

"Master Kenobi."

This illusion of a cordial greeting was edged with ice.

"I am not who you were expecting to see, I gather," Obi-Wan said coldly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw R2 slink back into the shadows just behind the door.

"Not quite," Palpatine said. Without taking his eyes off of Obi-Wan, he addressed the clones. "Bring the droid before it causes us undue trouble. I am sure Master Kenobi will not need its assistance any longer."

A few of the clones took the order and hurried into the room. R2 squealed and zipped out of the open door with such force and speed that he collided with the opposite wall.

"Somehow I am not so surprised that you are the one prying for classified information," Palpatine said. There was a flicker of annoyance in his voice that did not quite connect with his words.

Obi-Wan immediately understood. "You thought I was Anakin," he said. "You were able to track Artoo's movements through the central computer system as it recognized Artoo as a foreign intruder. That way you knew which doors we went through, what information we tapped into – leading you to here." He smiled slightly. "You automatically assumed that Anakin would be with Artoo."

Palpatine's expression hardened. "No matter," he replied coldly, "it will not be long before we detain Skywalker and Durron as well." He paused. "I assume that you have fully read the information your droid downloaded."

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "Yes."

"Then you are faced with the knowledge that you have failed," Palpatine said. His tone was deceptively calm – there was a triumphant gleam in his eyes. "Even if you manage to rescue Solo and escape from Kuduran alive, you know that she will die. There is nothing in your humble, modest abilities that can possibly cure her—"

It was as if Obi-Wan had no control over his own body. Palpatine's words ignited the growing mixture of fear and hatred and he launched himself at the Emperor, disarmed though he was. However, he had only moved several steps forward when he was knocked to the ground by a stun blast. The blast was not particularly strong, but it knocked the air from his lungs and he couldn't feel his arms or legs.

"Well now," Palpatine said mirthlessly. "This is a sight rarely seen. The great Jedi Master has fallen. This certainly does not live up to your image created by the Clone Wars. How disappointing. I thought someone who had previously been a general would have stood a better chance."

"I do what I can, when I can," Obi-Wan grunted.

Palpatine smiled coldly. "Which, it appears, is very little. I designed this complex myself to make it inescapable for a Jedi. Penetrable? Yes. Escapable? Never. It is the perfect trap, you see? One that you and your friends fell for so nicely."

"Inescapable for a Jedi, eh?" Obi-Wan chuckled sarcastically. "Do you not see the flaw in your plan, then?"

Palpatine's eyes narrowed. "Continue."

"You've created a void here in the Force," Obi-Wan said. He spoke quickly, the feeling in his arms and legs coming back. He would be able to move soon. "It makes us vulnerable, yes, but what of yourself? I have no doubt that you cannot feel the Force here anymore than I can. How do you mean to defend yourself if you can't manipulate the Force? Here in the emptiness, you are nothing more than an old, weak man."

For a brief moment, Obi-Wan thought he saw Palpatine's eyes flash red as a look of unfathomable anger flickered across his expression. A moment later, he was reeling in pain as a clone trooper boot connected with his chin. Ignoring the pain, he turned his attention back to Palpatine, his eyes meeting the Sith Lord's.

"One more thing," Obi-Wan said. "Take note. You don't have to be a Jedi to escape from this place alive."

As Obi-Wan leapt to his feet, R2-D2 exploded in a series of flashes, all of his arms extended as he released several electrical pulses before igniting his arm-rockets and blasting off towards the ceiling, releasing a great amount of smoke as he went. In the time it took for Palpatine's body guards to pull their attention away from the droid, Obi-Wan had already wrestled his lightsaber away from the clone who had taken it and sprinted down the hall, his escape covered by R2's smoke. The droid landed on the floor several near the end of the hall and rolled after Obi-Wan.

"Find him!" Palpatine's voice shouted through the smoke. "Do not let him escape, if you value your lives!"

As they ran down the corridor, R2 made several garbled, electronic noises that sounded almost like laughter. Obi-Wan shot him a disapproving look.

"No loose wire jokes, Artoo," he said. "We need to find Anakin before Palpatine does – even though there's no Force, I have a feeling Palpatine will do something about that before he goes up against Anakin."

R2 whirred.

"Well, where else would he be going? He's not coming after us."

R2 beeped.

"Yes. Trouble is right."

* * *

The lift was so completely damaged from the earlier incident that they could not use it to return to the main level of the complex. Anakin limped down the corridor, trying to ignore the stabbing pain in his side as he supported part of Jaina's weight. After leaving the cell-block, they had not encountered any guards but it was not a comforting thought. If they weren't here now, they would be soon and Anakin wasn't sure if he had the strength to go up against dozens of them.

Freeing Jaina had been the easy part of the mission. Escape was going to be much more difficult.

"Anakin, stop walking."

Kyp's sharp voice brought him back to the present. Anakin halted and glanced at his friend, who was staring intently at Jaina's face.

"She's waking up," Kyp murmured.

Together, they slowly lowered Jaina to the floor, Kyp supporting her gently. Anakin knelt on the floor next to them, glancing back to Jaina worriedly as he watched for any signs of approaching guards. His hand tightened around the hilt of his lightsaber.

Jaina groaned, her eyes fluttering open. "Kyp?" she rasped. Her voice was very hoarse, as if she hadn't had anything to drink in several days. "Anakin?"

"I'm here," Kyp said quietly. "We're both here."

"Where…" She fell silent and closed her eyes again. She made a few more incoherent sounds as she struggled to speak and then managed to whisper, "Where… are…we?"

"Still in the prison," Anakin replied, "not too far away from your cell-block. We're trying to find an alternative way out."

"…why?"

"Kyp broke the lift."

Jaina lay still for a moment and then made a sound that resembled a laugh. "Should be… more careful." Her hand brushed Kyp's. "Where… where are Obi-Wan and Artoo?"

"We don't know," Kyp said gravely. "We got separated."

"Not… good."

Anakin got to his feet. Though he couldn't feel the Force, his instincts were still the same and they were telling him one thing – run. Someone was coming and they needed to get Jaina out of here before she was hurt even more severely than she already was.

"Can you stand?" Kyp asked her.

"Yes." She winced as she slowly got to her feet. She stood still for a moment and then tumbled sideways into Kyp, who caught her.

"Are you—"

"I'm fine," she insisted, brushing away his assistance. She slowly took a step forward and then another. "I'll be fine."

Anakin froze. His senses were tingling – it was almost as if the Force was there, but it clearly was not. In any case, there was no denying the fact – something dangerous was headed straight for them.

"Kyp, get Jaina out of here," Anakin said quickly, now alert to any signs of movement. He ignited his lightsaber and turned to face his friends. "Now!" he ordered.

"Palpatine's coming," Jaina whispered.

"Anakin, I am not going to leave you down here," Kyp said angrily.

"Yes, you are!" Anakin countered vehemently. _"She's_ what's important," he added, jerking his head in Jaina's direction. _"She's_ what matters now. Get her out of here. I'll be fine." He turned away and stared down the corridor. "I know what I'm doing. I have to do this."

"We'll come back and get you," Kyp said. "We'll find Obi-Wan and then we'll come for you."

"_Go!"_ Anakin shouted.

Jaina stepped towards him and laid a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, meeting her eyes – Padmé's eyes. Leia's eyes. Anakin swallowed hard – he had never been so grateful to see anyone as much as Jaina in this moment. After everything that she had been through since her capture – only a part of which was visible on her skin – she _would_ leave this place alive, no matter what happened to him. He was going to make the Sith Lord responsible for this pay.

"He's nothing that he seems to be," Jaina said quietly.

Anakin nodded. "I know," he said, turning away.

Jaina was about to add something when Kyp took her arm.

"Come on Jaina," he said. "Let's keep moving. You've been through too much. Anakin needs to do this alone."

"Not alone."

Anakin still had his back turned to her, so he couldn't see her expression, but her voice told him everything he needed to know. She sounded as if she was about to cry.

"Never alone."

Anakin turned around once again and caught Jaina's eye. She smiled tightly before grasping Kyp's hand and letting him lead her down the hall, partially supporting her shaking weight. Anakin watched until they turned the corner and disappeared from view.

He waited in the silent hall, knowing what was coming. Uncontrollable fury was building up in him, growing with his anticipation to come face-to-face with the man who had brought unimaginable pain and suffering to him, to his family and to the Galaxy. Anakin longed to feel the Force again, sense its power – being this blind before a battle with his greatest nemesis was becoming more than he could bare.

He took a deep breath. Then another. And another.

Still no Palpatine.

_Where are you?_ Anakin thought savagely.

* * *

Obi-Wan darted through an open door and ran down the staircase located behind it. The halls and corridors were flooded with officers and clone troopers searching for him and his companions. The alarms were still blaring, even though it looked very much like everyone in the prison knew what had happened. Obi-Wan was surprised that he had managed to make it this far without being stopped, but he found that if he kept to the darkened corridors and walked at the same pace as any officers he encountered, the dark lighting would trick them into assuming at first glance that he was one of them. By the time they tried a second look, he would be gone.

Every lift in the complex was working to transport as many guards and officers throughout the prison as possible. Obi-Wan was not going to even attempt to sneak on to one unnoticed. As Anakin and the others were most likely either still on level nine, the stairs were his only way down. They also had the luck of currently being empty.

"Come on, Artoo!" he called over his shoulder as he reached the level three landing. R2-D2 beeped, teetering at the edge of the stairs.

"Artoo, we don't have time for this!" Obi-Wan said. "Improvise, if you must!"

R2 let loose an angry string of electronic noises before blasting off with his arm-rockets straight down the stairwell. Obi-Wan grabbed the railing and looked down into the darkness into which the droid had disappeared.

"Well, that seemed to have worked," he muttered to himself. He continued to run, leaping down the stairs three at a time, passing several landings. R2 had disappeared altogether – he was most likely at the very bottom of the stairs by now. Obi-Wan was charging down the stairs when he glanced through the dim light and skidding to a halt, grabbing the rail for support before he went tumbling down the steps from the force of stopping so suddenly. He paused for a moment, looking out over the edge of the stairwell to the next landing.

There were at least a dozen guards gathered there – and they were on their way up.

Swearing under his breath, Obi-Wan turned around and flew across the landing into the main corridor of level seven. As with the majority of the halls in the prison, this one gleamed a bright white that was slightly painful to the eyes after the dimness of the stairwell. Obi-Wan looked around for a moment to find a place to hide in case the guards came through here. There was a door opposite him. It was closed and locked. Obi-Wan paused, thinking of what to do next – if he opened it with his lightsaber, the guards would be bound to notice the damage done to the door – when he came across the identicard he had previous stolen when they had first arrived at Kuduran. Praying that it would work, he held the card up for identification and the door slid open. Obi-Wan disappeared through it, closing the door behind him, just as the guards passed through on to the level.

He stood behind the door, listening to the guards as they received orders to fan out and check the corridors of this level. Minutes passed – and they left. Turning around to see where he had ended up this time, he found that he was in a small storage room, but there was something very peculiar about it.

The walls were lined with containers made of transparisteel. In each one was a lightsaber.

Obi-Wan approached the first one. There was a name and the date of which the lightsaber was taken from the Jedi stamped on it. Obi-Wan vaguely recalled the name he was reading, but couldn't quite place a visual of the Jedi who had made the lightsaber. He continued along, reading each of the names and the dates, finding most of the lightsabers who had belonged to his now deceased comrades and friends. The weapons of the entire Jedi Council, minus Yoda's and his own, were also present here.

The room had gained the impression of a mass grave.

_I can't look at it anymore._

Turning away, Obi-Wan's eyes caught sight of one compartment across the room from him. He stared at it, walking across the chamber to inspect the name stamped on it.

_Jaina Solo. _

Obi-Wan ignited his own lightsaber and swiped it across the transparisteel, breaking the box. He reached in and pulled out Jaina's lightsaber. Clipping it to his belt, Obi-Wan crossed the room, pausing in the centre. Suddenly, he shouted and swung the tip of his lightsaber across an entire row of the compartments. Broken shards of transparisteel crashed to the floor. Obi-Wan stepped forwards, the pieces crunching under his boots, and he retrieved several of the lightsabers that had belonged to his friends.

"I will remember what you have done," he murmured, looking at the rest before passing through the door and back out into the corridor.

He was not alone.

A single guard, his expression one of surprise, stared at him as Obi-Wan walked back out into the hall. The guard paused for a moment and then reached for his blaster, but Obi-Wan quickly crossed the space between them and seized the weapon before the guard could do anything.

"I'll take that," he said, adding the blaster to his growing collection of weapons. As the guard tried to reach for his comm, Obi-Wan intervened and took it too, throwing it on the ground and crushing it under his heel. Not wanting to be held up any longer, Obi-Wan released the guard and returned to the landing, rushing down the stairs.

He would make it in time. He had to.

* * *

Jaina had not spoken a word since they left Anakin. She stumbled her way through the halls, refusing Kyp's help, clawing at the wall for support when her body threatened to collapse. She kept glancing behind her, as if she was afraid something was going to sneak up on them. Every time Kyp offered support, she would meander away and continue her hobbling version of a run.

He had never seen her like this. Whatever had happened to her inside these walls, he feared that it had played one too many games with her mind. If the marks covering her body weren't enough, this was one straw too far. If it had been within his power, Kyp would have stayed with Anakin and helped him destroy the sithspawned son of a Hutt the man who did this to her really was.

Jaina paused at a doorway, leaning against it for support. She closed her eyes, her breathing shallow and rapid.

"Kyp," she whispered. "Kyp."

"I'm here," he murmured, closing the gap between them and enfolding her in his arms. She pressed her face into his chest, her entire body trembling, tears catching on her eyelids before streaking down her cheeks. He rubbed her back, holding her tight.

"What the hell did they do to you, Jaina?" he asked himself under his breath.

As if in answer, she clasped his hand with her good one. "Stay with me?" It ended in a question.

"Always."

They stood still, holding each other even though they both knew that they could not stay for long. Sooner or later, the guards hunting them down would appear. They could not stand and fight them all – they would have to run once more.

There was a beeping sound that came out of the darkness behind the doorway. Jaina looked up and turned her head, trying to see what it was.

"Artoo?" Kyp called.

R2-D2 beeped and trundled out of the dark. A slight smile touched Jaina's lips when she saw the droid. Immediately, he unleashed a string of electronic noises that were so garbled it was almost impossible to tell what meant what. R2 then swung around and rolled back into the dark. Jaina glanced at Kyp and slowly detached herself from him, though her hand still remained clasped in his. Together, they walked into the dark behind the archway.

"Stairs," Jaina said.

"And more than that," Kyp said, grinning.

Obi-Wan was leaping down the stairs three at a time. For whatever reason, he had an abnormal amount of lightsabers with him and he was carrying a blaster. He arrived at the bottom of the stairs slightly winded and caught sight of Kyp and Jaina. Relief washed over his expression.

"Jaina," he breathed.

"Hi," she said quietly.

Obi-Wan's eyes widened slightly at the metal prosthesis that was her right arm as he took in the scars and the lacerations that covered her skin. "I won't be asking if you are all right, I think I know the answer," he said quietly. "I do have something for you." He unclipped one of the lightsabers from his belt and crossed the space between them, handing the weapon over to her.

Jaina took it, a strange look in her eyes. Holding it with her metal hand, she ran her left hand's fingers over the hilt and then transferred it to that hand. Gripping it tightly, she activated the lightsaber. The violet blade hissed out, casting a glow throughout the stairwell. After a moment, she deactivated it again and lowered her hand.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome," he answered solemnly. "Where's Anakin?"

"He sent us on ahead," Kyp said quickly. "Didn't want either of us getting involved."

"The idiot," Obi-Wan breathed. "Where did you leave him?"

"Back that way."

"Come on, then," Obi-Wan said, "before he gets himself killed."

* * *

Anakin stood, waiting, his heart pounding as he heard the approaching steps of someone coming up the hall. The pain in his side had not subsided, but he ignored it. He would not be slowed down by a little pain. This was it, this was the moment – his instincts were telling him so. He wanted to sprint down that corridor and fly into battle, but there was one element which he did not have control over that was dangerous for him. This prison was of Palpatine's design. Palpatine knew exactly where the ysalamiri were hidden. If he ran down that corridor right now, Palpatine could be within the Force at this very moment while Anakin was not.

_You will stand your ground, _he told himself firmly.

He took another breath and stood still. The lights flickered, casting dark webs of shadow across the floor and walls. When they stabilized, Darth Sidious was standing at the end of the corridor.

Palpatine looked the same as ever. His hands were clasped in front of him, his expression neutral. A calm stance for someone who was about to enter a duel. Anakin's grasp on his lightsaber tightened.

"Palpatine."

"Come now, Anakin," the Emperor replied. "I think we know each other well enough that we don't need to introduce ourselves."

"Everything I learned from you is a lie, Sidious," Anakin said clenched teeth.

"Not a lie, Anakin," Palpatine answered calmly. "A hidden truth. I never shielded you from anything."

"The man I thought you were was nothing more than an illusion!" Anakin shouted. "An illusion that I fell for, that the Jedi fell for! All this time, I never knew who – and what – you truly were." He wasn't sure what made him more furious – the fact that he was finally facing his enemy or the fact that Palpatine was being so calm about the whole incident.

"Am I that terrible of an instructor?" Palpatine's tone was patronizing. "For whatever you think of me now, Anakin, I _did_ teach you. There will always be something of me with you for the rest of your life."

"No, there won't!" Anakin bellowed. "There was nothing of value that you taught me – ever!"

"Even now, you are as stubborn as you are foolish," Palpatine said coldly, his eyes glittering. "Do what you will – throw the knowledge I gave you to the wind. I suppose it means nothing to you if you can read your enemy or not. What were you planning on doing, Anakin? Charging me down, right here and now?"

Anakin took a step forwards. "And why not? There is no Force here. We are in a void. I could take you down at any moment. You are weak. Without the Force, what are you?"

"What are you without the Force, Anakin? Have you asked yourself that?"

"I am not going to play your games!" Anakin yelled. He was pacing back and forth between the two sides of the corridor now, slowly making his way down the hall towards his enemy. Palpatine continued to stand still, his eyes following Anakin's every move.

"You are the Chosen One," Palpatine said calmly. "What is the Chosen One without the Force? Can you control the balance between dark and light without it? You are still conflicted, Anakin. I do not need the Force to tell me that your own inner demons are battling amongst themselves."

"I do not need your advice, Sidious," Anakin snapped. "You do not have the right to govern me anymore."

"No, my boy," Palpatine answered softly. "You gave up your chance to listen and understand."

"You're a Sith Lord!"

"Will you descend now into squabbling accusations that have no meaning here?" Palpatine said. "There is no Force. In this moment, there is no Jedi, no Sith. There is only us, as human beings, struggling with our natural inclinations as any human being does."

"There is nothing natural about the two of us," Anakin growled. "You're a time traveler! None of this would be happening if you didn't have the ability to manipulate something that shouldn't be toyed with!"

Palpatine sighed. "Accusations, again, Anakin. Perhaps they are true, perhaps they are, but they have no true meaning here."

"Fine," Anakin snarled. "You kidnapped Jaina. You held her captive and your tortured her. I suppose it was your 'natural inclination' to that? Well?"

Palpatine stared passively at him, his face completely void of any expression. Anakin paced back and forth, his lightsaber humming and casting a blue glow around him. Fury unlike anything he had known before was threatening to break loose.

"Why won't you answer?!" Anakin roared.

For just one moment, Palpatine's carefully structured calmness gave way to the anger seething behind the illusion. "_I did what I did,_" he barked, _"for the benefit of the future!_ A single person's life shall not stand in the way of humanity's triumph. There is so much we can learn through sacrifice, Anakin, so much that we cannot learn if we do not give something up."

"THEN GIVE UP YOUR OWN LIFE!" Anakin bellowed. "Don't prey on the innocent!"

"That girl is far from innocent," Palpatine snapped. "There is no such thing as innocence."

"_She's my family,"_ Anakin hissed.

"As was I at one point in your life," Palpatine countered.

Anakin pointed his lightsaber at him. "You betrayed my trust when you destroyed the Jedi Order."

"The Jedi Order was stagnant," Palpatine said coldly. "For the greater good, they had to be destroyed."

"Just as Jaina _had_ to be tortured?!" Anakin shouted.

"Do not be so ignorant, Anakin," Palpatine snapped. "Take a cold, hard look at your own philosophies. You came here to kill me – _for the greater good_ – as it is something that you believe needs to be done. You see now? You and I are very much alike, one and the same—"

"We are not the same!" Anakin exclaimed hotly. "We aren't—" He stopped. He wasn't sure what he felt more enraged at – that Palpatine had compared the two of them, or that Anakin himself felt that there was truth to Palpatine's words. Yes, he had come here to kill Palpatine for the greater good. He had promised to do whatever it took to destroy him.

Wasn't that what Palpatine was speaking of? Doing whatever it took for the greater good?

"Do you see it now?"

Anakin's eyes were closed. He concentrated on his breath, trying to blot out the Sith Lord's words.

_We are not the same,_ he thought furiously._ We are not the same. We are not the same. His vision is warped and evil. Mine is not. We are not the same._

"There was a time, Anakin, when I thought you would be the one to inherit my vision for the future. That you would be the one to save the Galaxy from the darkness that threatens to destroy it. But then you betrayed me, just as you believe I betrayed you. There was that… unfortunate… moment on Coruscant and then you were gone forever. You were like a son to me, Anakin. I still believe in you. I do not want to fight. Come back and take up this battle for me. I saw it in you once. I can see it in you again. Join me, for the greater good. For the benefit of the Galaxy."

There was a soft, lilting quality to his voice. It reminded Anakin of the days when Palpatine _had_ been like a father to him. Suddenly, the fact that Palpatine was a Sith Lord seemed to dull in his mind. There were no Jedi, there were no Sith. There was only them – two men with the fate of the Galaxy resting on their shoulders, the lives of trillions counting on their decisions, on their actions. If they worked together, they could save them… save them from the darkness… leads them away from shadows and dust and ashes—

"_No."_

"What?" There was a snarl hidden in Palpatine's voice.

Anakin opened his eyes and raised his head. "I said _no._ The difference between you and me, _Emperor,_ is that I can see the truth of the matter here. You believe very much that what you are doing will save the Galaxy. But you're wrong." Anakin paused, his eyes connecting with Palpatine's. Behind the calm composure there was a fire stirring – the anger of a Sith Lord. "You'll destroy it from the inside," Anakin continued. "Your people who love you so dearly today will begin to hate and fear you and it will grow until you are left alone in your Imperial Palace, defending yourself as the people you once set out to save turn against you."

"And where do these wondrous words of wisdom come from?" Palpatine hissed.

"Force or not," Anakin said calmly, feeling strengthened by his own words, "I am the Chosen One. I am destined to bring balance between light and dark – and I will do just that. I make my own choices – no one can makes them for me."

Palpatine stared at him, his eyes burning with anger. Then he broke into cold laughter. Anakin watched and listened, his small moment of strength and composure rapidly descending into nothingness.

"Pitiful, Skywalker," Palpatine snapped. "Pitiful. You are only the so-called 'Chosen One' because a few superstitious Jedi Masters decided you were. There only exists the _idea_ of the Chosen One because of a prophecy that says that there will be a Chosen One who will bring balance to the Force. If you are the so-called Chosen One, Anakin, then you do not make your own choices. They have been pre-determined for you by destiny."

"Everyone has a choice," Anakin said hotly.

"Yes, of course," Palpatine replied. There was a mirthless smile on his face. "Everyone except _you."_

"Why me?" Anakin asked darkly.

"I know a secret, Anakin," Palpatine said. "A secret so devastating that it would break your heart to know. The powers of time are difficult to sway, but once you do have their trust, then – well, then you can do anything you desire. I know the Jedi's _special_ prophecy of the Chosen One, thought to be lost for eternity. I know it's words. I know what it foretells. And you—" His eyes gleamed maliciously— "you would be better off to never hear it."

"What is it?" Anakin growled.

"I cannot say," Palpatine said. "To know the _real_ truth would be a terrible thing indeed."

"What is it?!" Anakin roared.

"Your destiny," Palpatine hissed.

Suddenly, power surged through the corridor as the Force returned. Anakin felt it course through him. He let it take hold and leapt into the air just as a red lightsaber plunged through the space he had been standing in moments before. Anakin flipped and landed on his feet, raising his saber just in time to parry Sidious' blade. The lightsabers cracked and sparks flew in every direction.

"I am not so weak now, Anakin!" Sidious snarled.

Anakin pushed forwards with the Force, throwing Sidious backwards. The Sith Lord stumbled, but brought his blade up as Anakin ran forwards to follow up the attack. He caught the red blade on an angle and the power of his movement caused him to slide forwards and around Palpatine. He flipped his blade upwards, blocked one of his enemy's blows and then turned around to parry again. Through the blaze of red and blue light, he saw Sidious' furious, wild eyes glare into his before the Sith Lord advanced on him again, pushing Anakin backwards down the hall.

Their blades were moving with lightning speed and without care for the structure around them. Their blades scorred the walls, sparks flying in every which direction as they made their way down the corridor. Anakin flipped over Sidious' head, barely missing being caught by the red lightsaber as it flew up in the opposite direction. He landed lightly on his feet and, before Sidious could turn around, swiped his lightsaber across his opponent's back. However, Anakin was at such a distance that the blade did not go deep enough to cause any damage to Sidious' skin. Instead, the Sith Lord's heavy cloak caught on fire. Sidious hissed in pain and in one swift moment, flung the cloak aside. Anakin dodged the burning heap of material and followed up his assault. The sabers crackled as they smashed together once again.

"I always thought that your ceremonial wardrobe would one day get in your way," Anakin taunted. "I mean, wouldn't be nice to be unrestricted by dress for once?"

"Perhaps one day you will learn that fighting is not all about jumping through the air," Palpatine hissed.

Anakin grunted as he was knocked aside by a Force-push. Quickly clearing his head, he ducked Palpatine's blow, flung himself to the other side of the hall, kicking his opponent in the back on his way over. Sidious grunted with pain as he flew towards the wall. He brought himself to a stop with the Force and turned around to face Anakin, who had already aimed a blow at him. The blue blade glanced off the red; Anakin twirled to avoid being struck and flew several paces backwards, bringing his blade in front of him.

Behind them, Palpatine's discarded cloak was still flaming and the thick smoke wafting off of it began to fill the hall.

Anakin ran forwards, his saber colliding briefly with Sidious' before he slid past him and turned around to attack again.

"You are reckless," Palpatine said softly as he parried another blow. "Your anger is consuming you."

"My anger for _you,"_ Anakin spat.

"You let your rage fuel you," Palpatine continued.

Anakin growled, raising his blade and bringing it down towards his enemy.

"Just like the incident with your mother," Palpatine finished.

Their sabers connected, crackling and sparking from the intensity. The Sith Lord's eyes bored into Anakin's as they held their blades together. Suddenly, Anakin felt himself flying backwards as he was caught off guard. He hit a closed door in the wall and his lightsaber plunged through the small device that opened it. The door spontaneously opened as its activator's circuitry fried and Anakin fell backwards through the archway, dragging his lightsaber with him. It slid through the wall, leaving a scorched slice in the durasteel.

Anakin had landed on a walkway that extended far into the chamber beyond. He scrambled to his feet as Sidious followed up his attack. The blue blade sprang into place, blocking Sidious' lightsaber at eye level. Anakin was forced backwards as he parried another blow. He spared a look behind him to get a look at the new environment; the fleeting glance caused him to have to throw himself to one side, landing at the edge of the walkway, as Sidious' lightsaber came crashing down on the place he had previously been. Anakin parried another blow and leapt to his feet, backing down the walkway, keeping Sidious' attacks at bay.

They had entered Kuduran's power generator pit. The chamber was huge, with bridges criss-crossing the entire system at various levels. As Anakin parried another attack, still walking backwards with his eyes on the Sidious' lightsaber, his mind had fast-tracked through several plans. This battle had opened several options that he had not considered before. If he could lead Sidious to the melting pit, he would be able to disable the entire complex while fighting the Sith Lord. If there was one thing he wanted along with Sidious' death, it would be the destruction of this place.

Anakin glanced over his shoulder and saw the entrance to the melting pit several levels up. Anakin ducked as the red lightsaber flew over his head and he continued to back down the walkway.

"You seem distracted, Anakin," Palpatine hissed. "Reconsidering my offer already?"

"Never," Anakin spat.

Their lightsabers clashed, sparks showering Anakin's face. He cried out in pain as they flew into his eyes. Breathing deeply, he centered his thoughts, ignoring the pain and sinking deeper into the Force. His weapon collided with Palpatine's and they momentarily exchanged places on the catwalk, spinning around each other, surrounded by a flurry of colour and sparks. Anakin attacked again, propelling himself up in the air, flipping over Palpatine's head.

Pain shot through him and his vision was blinded with a collage of blue and white. Anakin felt himself falling as electricity crackled in his ears. Air streaked past him as he tumbled down, down, down – and landed with a thud on the edge of a lower walkway. Winded, Anakin was momentarily stunned and began slipping off the edge. Gasping for breath, he caught himself and clambered back up on to the walkway before lying there, prone, trying to regain strength while his vision blurred.

"Poor Anakin Skywalker." Sidious' voice drifted to him from high above. Anakin coughed and blinked, trying to clear his vision. "So lost, so confused as to his place in life. You will never beat me, Anakin, as long as you continue to be the frustrated Jedi Knight."

Anakin slowly rose to his feet and looked up at Sidious' distant form. "You're wrong," he said loudly. "I will defeat you. I have powers that you can't even begin to imagine."

"Really?" There was mock surprise in his voice.

Anakin didn't bother with a reply. Taking control of his breath, he concentrated as he began to sprint up the walkway he was on. Leaping into the air, he landed on the walkway that criss-crossed his a level up without even breaking stride. Continuing on his way, Anakin leapt up to the next level, coming to rest several paces away from Sidious.

"Most impressive," he said coldly. "Your endurance is quite remarkable." There was no mistaking the sarcastic tone.

"Those weren't the powers," Anakin snapped, igniting his lightsaber and taking a step forward.

"Tell me, Anakin," Sidious said, "have you ever heard of the prophecy of the Sith'ari?"

"I don't think now is the time for _stories_," Anakin snarled, lunging forwards. Sidious parried his attack and Anakin found himself switching places on the catwalk. He was walking backwards again, but all the while getting nearer to the corridor that led to the melting pit at the centre of the power generator.

"One can never stop learning," Palpatine countered as he parried a blow Anakin aimed at him. He watched as Anakin recoiled backwards from the power of the parry, teetering at the edge of the walkway. Anakin hissed under his breath and attacked again.

"I don't need to learn anything else from you," he said, spitting in his enemy's face as their lightsabers clashed together. He jerked his lightsaber back and then aimed another blow at Palpatine, but he was blocked. Anakin didn't want to mention it to himself, so he kept the thought at the very back of his mind, but he was rapidly becoming tired. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get through Sidious' defences.

Anakin stepped backwards, preparing for his next assault, but Palpatine pushed him backwards with the Force. Anakin attempted to control it, but he felt himself sliding back. The bottom of his boots screeched on the floor and he was thrown into the narrow corridor that led to the melting pit. He tumbled over, but leapt back up as Palpatine followed him.

The corridor was dim. There would not be enough room for a proper fight in here. Anakin continuing walking backwards as his enemy approached.

"You see, Anakin," Palpatine said, his lightsaber casting a bloody glow on the walls, "you may be the Chosen One, but I have powers that you can never fully understand. There is a time when a being so powerful, completely free of any restrictions, will rise – the ultimate Sith. According to legend, he will lead the Sith into battle, destroy them, but through their destruction they will be stronger than ever."

"The prophecy of the Sith'ari, I take it?" Anakin said.

"Quite right," Palpatine answered, his eyes glittering with malice.

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "And you think it's you?" Mad laughter escaped him as he stumbled backwards out into the melting pit. There was a wide, circular shaft in the centre of the room. Anakin glanced at it as he slowly made his way over to the controls.

Palpatine regarded him with a dark, dangerous look but Anakin interrupted him before he could speak.

"You know the thing I find strangest?" he said. "After everything – all the prophecies of doom and dread and how much you keep telling me that you're going to take over the entire universe – at the end of the day there is one little flaw that I can't help notice."

"What?" Sidious snarled.

"Jaina," Anakin replied coolly. "She's still here. That's how I know that my daughter will live on. And if part of my family is alive – no matter what happens to me, I know that they will continue to fight on. The Galaxy will be saved from you, one way or another."

"Foolish boy, do not speak of things you don't understand," Palpatine snapped. "Time is far more complex than you could possibly understand." He strode towards Anakin, one hand raised as if he was about to shoot more lighting from his fingertips.

"Stop," Anakin ordered, raising his blade. "Take one more step and everything will go _boom."_

Palpatine stopped moving. "What is this?"

"If I can take out an entire Federation battleship on my own at the age of nine, I can certainly take out _this."_

"Don't be ridiculous!" Palpatine snapped.

Anakin pointed to the complex system of controls that lined the wall of the melting pit. "You see this?" he said. "If this gets sliced open, we're all in trouble. You and me, mostly, as I'm sure this has a lockdown on it, but that will only seal us in for when flames come shooting up that shaft." He glanced at it and raised an eyebrow to emphasize his point.

Palpatine snarled. The next moment, Anakin barely knew what was happening. Blue and red light flashed before his eyes and he found himself being pushed backwards as Sidious attacked him furiously. Anakin flew backwards into the wall, his lightsaber slicing through something on his right, and then the wind was knocked right of out him. He saw the red lightsaber flash in front of him and suddenly he fell to the floor, completely disoriented, as the red blade was knocked out of the way by another blue blade.

Anakin looked up and saw Obi-Wan, his expression grim, forcing Palpatine backwards. He struggled to his feet, glancing at the controls on the wall – they were sparking. The floor was shaking violently.

"This isn't good," he murmured.

"Anakin – run!" Obi-Wan shouted, turning from the duel with the Sith Lord and sprinting towards them.

The Jedi ran down the narrow corridor, almost losing their balance as the floor shook. They came out on one of the walkways. Anakin turned around to see a bright red shield seal off the corridor. Behind it stood Palpatine, his lightsaber still in his hand, an expression of pure malice on his face. Anakin glared back at him before turning to his friend and running after him.

The bridges that spanned the chamber were trembling as they ran across them. Anakin reached out to the Force to steady himself.

"Where's Jaina?" he asked.

"Kyp's with her. She and Artoo are outside," Obi-Wan answered, breathing shallowly as he ran. "Didn't want to endanger her by bringing her in here."

"Well, everyone in this place is going to be endangered if those shields don't hold!" Anakin shouted.

The lights began to flicker, plunging them in and out of darkness. There was a loud screeching noise, followed by a rumbling and then something snapped. Anakin looked behind him just in time to see one of the walkways break in half.

"Keep going!"

Panting and gasping for air, the Jedi reached the other side and cantered down a hallway. Skidding to a stop, they turned a corner and flew down the next corridor.

R2-D2 was beeping wildly at them as they arrived. Jaina was sitting on the floor between the droid and Kyp, her metal hand gripping the hilt of her lightsaber and her human hand clasped in Kyp's. She slowly got to her feet, leaning on Kyp for support.

"What did you do?" she demanded, her voice still raspy.

"Destroyed the power generator," Anakin said. "We need to get out of here, the whole place will go fast if they can't control it."

"And my guess is that they can't control it," Kyp said, glancing at the flickering lights.

There was a loud rumbling sound.

"Agreed," Anakin said.

They started running again. They returned to the stairwell and began climbing the stairs. By now it didn't seem to matter who they ran into. Guards, officers, personnel of all kind were flooding the prison, running in every direction. From the conversations they caught as they passed, no one seemed to know what was going on.

"How did you know where I was?" Anakin panted as they continued up the stairs. Jaina was falling behind, physically unable to keep up with the others. Kyp stopped to help her.

"The burning cloak and the gashes in the wall were very good indicators," Obi-Wan said. "But once the Force returned, it was pretty evident where you were."

Kyp picked up Jaina, who looked as though she was about to pass out from exhaustion, and darted up the stairs towards them. The lights flickered once and then went out, leaving them in absolute blackness.

Moments later, Anakin and Obi-Wan ignited their lightsabers, casting blue glows throughout the stairwell. They continued to run up the stairs, their breath now coming in gasps. Finally, they managed to reach the top.

The main level had descended into chaos. As the building shook, no one paid attention to the Jedi as they ran. Alarms were blaring, but this time they were different than the ones that had gone off when Anakin and his companions had first been detected. These were of a higher-pitch and were accompanied by a voice over the comm system. In the din it was impossible to hear what the voice was saying.

They made it to the docking bay where there was a flurry of activity as everyone was trying to escape. The Jedi ran for their ship, R2 beeping urgently as his rolled after them. Anakin was the first to the ship – he activated the ramp and was already running up it before it had completely descended. Kyp, still carrying Jaina, followed and Obi-Wan came last with R2.

Anakin flew into the cockpit, flinging himself into the pilot's chair. "Strap in quickly, this is going to be a rough ride!" he shouted over his shoulder. There was no need to tell the others.

The docking bay floor began to shudder as Anakin activated the engines.

_Come on, come on,_ he thought. _Faster! We need to get out of here!_

He pulled sharply on the yoke and they were flung into the air and zoomed out of docking bay. The energy shields that protected the base had fallen. Asteroids were now free to pound the place to pieces, which would be the cause of most of the damage. As they rocketed away from the prison, there was an explosion.

Anakin found it rather satisfying.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said, "we're being followed."

"Well, they're not following us anywhere," Anakin snapped.

An asteroid hurtled towards them. Anakin veered away at the last possible moment. Diving to the left, he swerved around a second one that came crashing towards them. There was an explosion of light as the ship that had been tailing them was hit.

He had thrown caution to the wind, relying entirely on the Force to guide him. Closing his eyes, he focused, slowing his breath. He adjusted his grip on the yoke. The ship almost somersaulted to avoid a cluster of the chunks of rock. For a moment, he almost felt like he was podracing again. He could sense where all of the hazards were. They would be safe, if a bit bruised from the ferocity of the flight.

The ship spiralled to the right, veered down and came back up again. Anakin concentrated, trying to sense where the next asteroid was coming from.

Nothing.

Anakin opened his eyes. There were no more asteroids. They were out.

"That's it!" he shouted and threw the ship into hyperspace. The stars gleamed blue and blurred for a moment and then they were away.


	53. Twilight

**CHAPTER LIII**

**Twilight**

The relief and joy that was expected to come after a harrowing escape was non-existent. Instead, there was a chilly silence that filled the ship – a gift from the uncertainty of what had actually occurred at Kuduran and what would happen next. Anakin remained still in the pilot's chair, his hands refusing to move away from the controls. It was as if he was unsure whether or not he wanted to turn the ship around and return to Kuduran. Kyp had not been present for the battle between Anakin and Sidious, but he was keenly aware that something had passed between the Jedi and the Sith Lord and it was affecting Anakin deeply. Obi-Wan also had not moved; he appeared lost in thought. He had an assortment of lightsabers that he had taken from somewhere within the prison – he was playing with one of them, passing it from one hand to the other. R2-D2 whirred and hummed quietly to himself, making a long string of electronic comments that no one bothered to listen to and interpret.

Jaina had lost consciousness moments after entering hyperspace; the exertion imposed on her frail, weak body during the escape had been too much. Rising to his feet, Kyp carefully lifted Jaina and carried her to the small passenger lounge. Setting her gently down on the nearest couch, he fetched a blanket and returned as quickly and quietly as possible. He was in the process of draping the blanket over her when her eyes cracked open and she seized the blanket as she struggled to sit up.

"Jaina—"

She made an indistinguishable noise in her throat and finally managed to sit up. She slowly swung her legs around so her feet touched the floor and she leaned into the back of the couch. Kyp watched, concerned, as she attempted to wrap the blanket around her shoulders, but her movements were slow and arduous. A thread in the blanket's fabric caught in one of the joints of her metal hand. Jaina's increasingly frustrated attempts to get the blanket around her shoulders caused it to rip. Kyp caught hold of the blanket before she could damage it further. Jaina shook her head violently, fiercely clutching at the blanket, unwilling to let it go. The hole in the fabric grew larger.

"Jaina—"

"No," she grunted.

"Jaina—"

"_No."_

"Look at me," he said quietly.

She turned her head and met his gaze. Her brown eyes were wet, filled with tears that had not yet fallen. Her face was ashen and she was trembling uncontrollably. Her grip on the blanket slowly slackened. Kyp hurriedly sat down beside her, placing the blanket around her shoulders and wrapping her tightly in it. Silently, she collapsed against him.

"Hold me," she whispered.

He obliged automatically.

Kyp wasn't sure how long they stayed like that. There was no sound but the hum of the ship's engines. Jaina remained silent, the tears in her eyes refusing to fall as she stared blankly at the opposite wall. Kyp cradled her gently; there had never been a time where he had seen her like this. She was fragile, almost child-like in her distress. It was painful to see her so defeated, so crushed, all of her strength and willpower dissolved. Jaina was one of the strongest women Kyp knew. She always fought on, no matter what, pulling through even the most difficult situations.

Yet even with her current condition, her presence in the Force remained undiminished. Instead, it seemed even larger than before. Her Force-signature had become a vast power that pushed dangerously against his own mind due to the connection they shared. Jaina did not appear to be conscious of the fact, which was something that troubled Kyp. He could not understand how this phenomenon had taken place, but now was not the time to find out. He carefully shielded his mind, in case Jaina did something without realizing it.

"It's so cold," Jaina finally said, her voice little more than a whisper.

"It won't be long now," Kyp murmured, rubbing her shoulder. "We're going to Mon Calamari. The others are going to meet us there."

Jaina didn't respond. There was a sharp intake of breath, similar to the sound one made right before one started crying. But she didn't cry. The silent emptiness returned and she continued to stare blankly at the wall.

"Mon Calamari, Jaina," Kyp said quietly. "You'll see Padmé again, and Bail and Yoda. We're going someplace safe where they won't be able to find you. It's over now."

Jaina shuddered. "It's never over," she said, her voice monotone. "He will come back, you'll see. That blast won't have killed him."

"We still have Anakin. We've all survived. That counts for something."

Jaina struggled for a moment and sat up, the blanket falling loosely around her shoulders. Her eyes and cheeks were wet, tears falling freely from them. "He always comes back," she said, her voice becoming choked in her throat. "He's too powerful, too strong. He knows everything about the Force. He can manipulate it in ways that we can't even begin to imagine. There's no way of stopping him now." She raised a hand and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"He'll be going up against two Skywalkers," Kyp said softly, his hand finding hers. "That's a force to be reckoned with right there."

As he spoke, Jaina's fingers tightened their grip around his hand. She shuddered, her trembling becoming almost out of control. "I thought it was the end, Kyp," she whispered, staring straight ahead at the blank wall. "I held on so long to the hope that you were coming, that Anakin was coming, but in the end that hope died. I was ready to give up fighting, I was prepared to look death in the face and accept it."

She looked like she was going to start crying again.

"Shh, it's all right," Kyp murmured, placing one arm around her shoulders. Jaina leaned against him, her face buried in his shirt. "Anakin's going to get him in the end, and then we can go home. Everything will be all right, I promise."

"Promises are fragile," she said, her voice hardened. "Comforting, but fragile. Everything is not going to be all right. It might have been better if we had never come at all—"

"Jaina, don't say that—"

"We've entered a situation that could destroy the whole universe and we're too involved now to back out. Everything is going wrong."

"And it would be worse if we hadn't come at all. Neither of us will forget what Palpatine did that day on Mustafar, or what that incarnation of him was capable of—"

"No!" If her voice hadn't been so hoarse, he was sure she would have shouted the word. "Listen to me," she hissed. "I wanted it to end before they could use me to get to Anakin, to get to you. To get to any and all Jedi."

It was very cold in the passenger lounge.

"What happened?" Kyp said bluntly. "What did he do to you?" Anger and loathing for the Sith Lord was rising within him. The monster of a man had lived long enough. Jaina was lucky to be alive, but her capture and torture was only one thing on the long line of cruel accomplishments Sidious deserved to be punished for.

Jaina sat up again and faced him. Her eyes were bloodshot and wider than usual. Accompanied by her pale, broken appearance, she looked like the ghost of a dead child.

"He's been experimenting on Jedi," she said, her voice hollow. "I'm the only one who's survived. For now."

"What?" Kyp breathed. His free hand slowly clenched into a fist.

"It's called Delik-66," Jaina continued quietly. "It doesn't have an effect on normal people, or so they say. I don't know how it kills, only that there's enough of it in my system now that eventually it'll get me."

The burning anger, now veering towards uncontrollable, forced him to stand up. "That kriffing bastard," Kyp hissed. "I'll kill him myself."

"Kyp—"

"What?" he growled. He turned around and his next words fell silent as he saw Jaina, curled up frailly on the couch, her expression calmly desolate. He could see in her eyes that she had already accepted her fate, whatever the Delik-66 brought. In that moment, he realized that some part of her had broken while she had been imprisoned. Some part of the strength that had always been embodied within her had been drained. She was facing an inevitable death and did not know how long she could last.

"Don't you give up," he said. "Don't you _dare_ give up now. We're in this together."

If there hadn't been a flicker of hopelessness in her eyes before, there was one there now. "I'm changing, Kyp," she said quietly. "I see things now. Every time I close my eyes, I can see things. People and places that I don't know, but seem so familiar. I can see the disasters and tragedies that wait in the near future, ones that are unavoidable because we're on a path that can never be left. And I can see him. Always him."

Kyp sat down next to her again. "It's not the end," he said firmly. "Even the precognisant can't see every twist in the path. No one – not even those who control time and plot and connive until they believe they have the whole Galaxy under their thumb – can say how things will turn out."

Jaina bit her lower lip. "I'm afraid," she whispered.

Once again, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "So am I, Jaina," he said. "But I will always be here for you, and don't you ever forget that."

She smiled faintly and he kissed the top of her head.

"Try to get some sleep," he said, moving to get up.

Jaina caught his hand. "Stay… please."

He nodded.

Her eyes closed and she lay down on the couch, her hand still grasping his. Kyp stayed with her until her breathing had gained a steady rhythm. Deciding that it was time to return to the cockpit, he stood up, gently rearranged the blanket around Jaina's sleeping form, and quietly left the passenger lounge.

When he returned, Anakin was checking the navchart to see how long they had left in hyperspace. Upon hearing Kyp's boots clanging on the floor, he spun the pilot's chair around.

"How is she?" he asked anxiously.

Obi-Wan didn't stir at the sudden rise in sound. He continued to stare off into space, apparently lost in thought. His expression made him appear deeply troubled. R2 whirred unhappily from the corner.

"Not good," Kyp answered, sitting down. He ran a hand through his hair. "Sidious did something to her. I don't know how, or why, or even what it was, but—"

"Would it have anything to do with her Force-signature being suddenly so…" Anakin's expression scrunched up as he tried to think of the right word. "—loud?" he said finally. "I didn't notice it when we were escaping – the adrenaline rush tends to make you unresponsive to everything other than the thing you're concentrating on, but now—" He shook his head. "It's strange. It's like she's grown in the Force."

"I have an answer," Obi-Wan said heavily. "As best as answer as we will get."

"What is it?" Kyp asked shortly.

"I stumbled across something I'm sure the Empire wishes I hadn't," Obi-Wan explained. "They were… experimenting on Jedi. That seems to be a primary reason for the prison being built in the first place. I came across a listing of all the names of the Jedi who had been captured during or after Order Sixty-Six and taken to the facility. All of them were non-human. All of them died." He raised one of the lightsabers he had taken from Kuduran. "This belonged to Kit Fisto. He was one of the Jedi imprisoned there."

"And Jaina?" Anakin asked.

"Artoo can show you. I was fortunate enough to download the file."

R2 rolled forwards and plugged himself into the console. Kyp came forwards so he could see the screen as the file R2 had taken from the prison flashed across it. As he read the words describing the experiments with Delik-66 and the dangerous effects it had on Jaina, his anger for Palpatine and his fear for Jaina increased, flooding him with mixed emotions.

_Delik-66 is imperfect, as whether it increases or decreases the midichlorian count in a being, the ultimate result is fatal. Extrapolation of Solo's given data with reference to Arkheenan's notes has shown repeatedly that there will come a point where the subject's midichlorian count becomes too high and the subject will "dissolve" into the Force, ceasing to exist. There were hopes to use Solo's case to find a cure for this failure; however, the Emperor has, as of now, annulled the experiment and we have declared the case a test malfunction. _

Kyp's hands clenched into fists. Palpatine was good – too good. When one experiment used to perpetrate his sick, cruel ideals went wrong, there was always a way of getting rid of the problem for it became a dilemma. If he had survived the blast that destroyed Kuduran, Sidious was still ahead of them. It didn't matter that they had rescued Jaina. He had found a way of removing her permanently. She may be alive now, but with the data from the file, it was too clear how things would turn out.

She was dying and there was nothing he could do about it.

He had never felt so helpless – angry and helpless. It was all out of his hands now, there was no power in this world that could stop the progression of the deadly substance. Even if they killed Palpatine, it would not replace what was lost. Kyp already knew that the act of revenge would not solve anything. They should not have come here. Jaina should not have come here. If someone had had to return to the past to save the future, he should have come alone. Then she would have been safe.

Kyp sat back down. "This is even worse than I thought it would be."

"It explains the increase of her Force-presence," Anakin said darkly.

"Has Jaina spoken to you about it?" Obi-Wan asked.

Kyp nodded. "Yeah. I don't know how much she knows – I get the feeling that she wasn't going to tell me everything – but she's at the point where she's already accepted the fact that she's… that she's going to—" His voice stopped abruptly. Jaina was still alive, and where there was life, there was hope.

That was all he had to hold on to.

"She's the only one who reacted this way," Kyp said, re-reading the data, searching desperately for some loophole in the findings.

"Yes," Obi-Wan said. "Until something went wrong, I'm sure Palpatine was pleased with the results. According to his xenophobic standards, Jaina would be classified as a pure human. Considering how obsessed with power and immortality our Sith Lord is, Palpatine would be content that only the 'pure' human would exhibit signs of increasing Force sensitivity, whereas all the others… lost it." He blinked and rapidly reached forwards and shut the screen off. "It's disgusting," he said, mostly to himself.

"He's callous and sadistic," Kyp grunted.

"I should have killed him when I had the chance," Anakin growled through gritted teeth.

Obi-Wan sighed. "Anakin, you did what you could—"

"No!" Anakin shouted. "I could have done more! I could have tried harder! I could have – I don't know!" He stopped abruptly, wincing in pain. His hand pressed against the side where he had received a wound during his fight with Ursel Isard. "I had so many chances where I could have killed him! For a moment – more than a moment – there was no Force at all. I could have taken him down then, he was a harmless old man without any support. I could have killed him, but something stopped me. There are so many things I could have done, but I DIDN'T DO THEM!"

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said quickly, "calm down—"

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" Anakin yelled. "IT'S MY FAULT JAINA'S DYING! I'VE FOUGHT PALPATINE TWICE NOW AND HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO KILL HIM! HE'S ALWAYS WON, AND IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HE ALWAYS WILL WIN!"

"Then take matters into your own hands!" Obi-Wan snapped. "You still have much to learn, Anakin, before you're ready to face him. Your inability to defeat him shows that you are still conflicted—"

Anakin made a wordless, screeching sound. "I AM NOT CONFLICTED! I KNOW WHO I AM! I KNOW WHAT I HAVE TO DO! THE GALAXY'S IN A DISASTER RIGHT NOW AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF ME! BECAUSE I CAN'T TAKE DOWN ONE OLD MAN—"

"One old man who is much more than an old man!" Obi-Wan interrupted harshly. "He was your friend – evidently you are still feeling the burn of his betrayal, the bite of discovering his true nature! Something stopped you from taking action when you could – Palpatine knows how you think! Until you sort out your emotions, you will still be prey to whatever temptations and reasonable offers he can make! You must find your place before you saunter in and take command! You may be the Chosen One but you aren't ready for it yet!"

"I'M READY FOR ANYTHING!"

"Clearly you are not!"

Anakin stood up. He looked like he was going to shout or scream directly in Obi-Wan's face. His expression flickered through several emotions, anger reeling off him through the Force. Slowly, he took control and sat back down. He was silent for a few moments and then turned to Obi-Wan.

"How can you be so calm?" he spat.

"I'm calm because I'm angry!" Obi-Wan snapped.

There was silence in the cockpit. Kyp couldn't bring himself to say anything. Both Anakin and Obi-Wan were almost shaking with anger.

With great effort, Anakin stayed still. He rubbed his forehead, staring blankly out the viewport. "I couldn't fight him," he said quietly. "He was too strong. His defences were impossible to get through. I was doing all I could to keep him from gutting me the moment our lightsabers clashed." His fingers vehemently tapped the side of the console. "He's still out there. I know he is. I can sense him. That blast won't have killed him. He might have prevented me from winning this time, but I won't stop until I run him through."

"He probably teleported through time to a safe zone," Kyp said darkly.

"He what?" Anakin said gutturally.

"That's what he did last time," Kyp said. "Remember when he jumped out the window when you confronted him on Coruscant?"

Anakin nodded bluntly.

"I'm almost certain that he employed that favourite trick of his there to save himself from the fall. The Palpatine from this era is no different than the one that we encountered in our time."

"The one who forced you to come back," Anakin said.

"Yes. He killed Jaina's brother and then disappeared before any of us could get to him."

Anakin's expression hardened and his attention wandered down as he stared intently at his feet.

R2 whistled sadly. Kyp glanced at the droid and smiled slightly. A strange thought passed through his mind – through everything, R2 had always been there. He was the one, constant thing about the Skywalker family. He had even been there, with the ships, when Luke's band of Jedi had first gone to Mustafar on what became a disastrous investigation.

"Maybe it would have been better if we'd never come at all," Kyp muttered.

Anakin's head shot up. "To rescue Jaina?" he said, outraged.

"_Here,"_ Kyp snapped. "To this time. If we'd stayed in our own time, Jaina would never have been captured. She wouldn't be dying." He sighed. "But Augustine was very intent on sending Jaina here after that mess with Sidious. Someone had to come with her, and I was the only one who could."

"Why?" Obi-Wan asked.

"The rest of them – Han and Leia, Luke and Mara… Corran – they were all too old to come. It would have been a paradox for them to travel to this time, as a younger version of them already existed, or would soon exist. It had to be me. It had to be Jaina. There was no one else there."

"But if you hadn't come," Anakin said hollowly, looking at his feet again, "I would be a scorched corpse kept alive by a suit and I'd be serving my ultimate enemy. Padmé would be dead and the Jedi Order would be even more destroyed than it is now and my son and daughter wouldn't meet each other for another twenty years." He glanced at Kyp. "At least you have the Chosen One on your side. I don't have to guess at how much worse things would be if I had turned to the dark side."

Kyp nodded.

"I'm going to go see her," Anakin said, standing up and leaving the cockpit abruptly.

Kyp quickly followed him, wondering whether Anakin's shouting had woken Jaina up and thinking that she needed sleep. He entered the passenger lounge a little ways after Anakin, but paused at the entrance way. Anakin walked quickly across the room. The sound of his boots on the floor caused Jaina to stir from her sleep. Her eyes opened and she struggled to sit up, but Anakin shook his head.

"No, you stay there," he said, sitting down at the edge of the couch next to her feet.

"You were yelling," Jaina murmured. She looked exhausted, but her speech was not slurred by lack of sleep. "It's not your fault," she said slowly and firmly.

Anakin didn't answer for a long time. The angry blaze in his eyes hadn't died down; instead, it had turned into a determined burning to prevent what Palpatine had started. Kyp recognized the look – it was the sort of manic expression all of the Skywalkers obtained whenever they chose to persist with something, whether it be a battle to stop a Sith Lord or a fight with food in the kitchen.

"I'm not going to let you die, Jaina," he said finally.

"Anakin, there's nothing you can do," she answered.

"No," Anakin growled. "He thinks he has the upper hand, but I'm going to march right in and take it out from under him. He think he may have won by killing you, but you aren't dead yet and I will find a cure for this Delik-66 thing. I will do whatever it takes to bring him down. He's overrun the Galaxy and he's hurt my family and attempted to destroy it. I don't like people who do that."

There was something about the simplicity of his last statement that Kyp found to be almost morbidly humorous.

Jaina, however, had a completely different reaction to it. She struggled for a moment and forced herself to sit up. Her movements caused the blanket to fall to the floor. She locked eyes with Anakin, refusing to let her gaze leave his face.

"You know," she said.

Anakin nodded shortly. "Yeah. I know."

"When did you find out?"

"No long after you were captured."

Jaina was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry." Her voice sounded so little, so very frail.

"For what?" Anakin asked. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Jaina. You did what you thought best. Who am I to judge you for your actions? You came here to save me. I was so close to falling to the dark side – not everyone could have pulled me back from the brink." He took her hands. "But you and Kyp did just that, even without me noticing what you were doing. You let me figure things out on my own; you should not be sorry for withholding information. Even if I didn't like it, I think now that it was probably for the best. I doubt that I would have believed you, or trusted you enough to let you do what you did, if you had told me the whole truth at the very beginning because, well—"

"It's a damn unbelievably story," Jaina said softly. The corners of her lips turned upwards in a small smile.

"Yeah," Anakin said. He laughed faintly. "But then we're one hell of an unbelievable family."

Jaina looked as though she wanted to keep smiling, but couldn't. Her eyes glanced past Anakin and met Kyp's. A worried expression flickered briefly across her face. He felt her Force-presence – so much brighter and larger due to the effects of Delik-66 – push against the barriers he had established and her thoughts echoed in his mind.

_He's come so far, _she said.

_I know,_ Kyp thought.

_What will happen when I die? He could lose everything he's gained._

_He won't. He's stronger than that. He'll continue to push on, to fight on, until he kills Palpatine or dies in the process._

They were all silent for a long time, listening to the hum of the engines and glancing at each other. There were no words that needed to be said. They all knew the predicament they were in. It was twilight on the days of running, hiding and searching – every action they took from now on would be directed at bringing down Palpatine. Though it seemed even more like an impossible mission now than ever before, it was the only thing they could do. Though some parts of their minds accepted the fact that Palpatine was much stronger than they ever could be, though some part of them believed that they couldn't defeat him, they still had to try. They had too much to lose if they didn't, there was too much to fight for. If they all died in the process, then at least they would go out fighting for the people of the Galaxy.


	54. Mon Calamari

**CHAPTER LIV**

**Mon Calamari**

Mon Calamari was so withdrawn from the chaos that engulfed the core systems that its tranquil atmosphere offered Padmé some form of comfort, even if there was only the illusion of peace here. Despite knowing that no place was safe, Mon Calamari's calm beauty provided a way to escape from the distressing horrors of her thoughts. Before, only Naboo had been able to achieve that kind of effect and as she would not see her homeworld for as long as this battle lasted, Padmé welcomed it with all her heart.

Today she and Scout had taken Luke and Leia and explored the lower levels of Coral City. In the dimly lit, rounded rooms available as common spaces for the general public as readily as parks were on Naboo, the fresh scent of the ocean and the musical echoes of falling water was a pleasure to the senses. The walls and ceilings were shimmering with the golden light reflected by the waves lapping in the pools present in every room. Small, arched bridges and stepping stones led across the pools, connecting the series of rooms together. Instead of everything being uniformly white, the turquoises and the greens of the sea were present in the tiles on the floor. With such an explosion of visuals, sounds and scents, the twins were particularly interested, taking everything in with wide eyes and giggles, usually descending into long strains of babbling. Padmé could swear that though the babbling was indiscernible to hers and Scout's ears, Luke and Leia knew exactly what they were saying to each other.

"Are you and the little ones enjoying yourselves, Senator?" a strong Mon Calamarian voice asked, interrupting Padmé's reverie.

Padmé looked down to the foot of the bridge she was currently standing on, overlooking the lapping waves of the pool below. Balancing Leia carefully in her arms, she walked down the bridge to stand beside the Mon Calamarian who had addressed her.

"Please don't call me that, Ackbar," she said gracefully. She smiled tightly at the mention of her previous title. "I'm not a Senator anymore."

"Are you not?" Ackbar replied. "You may not be a friend of the Empire, my dear, but you are a friend of the Galaxy. Some of us know you and what you stand for. Once a Senator, always a Senator. Your work continues on and you deserve every respect the title bestows."

Padmé had met Ackbar within hours of the _Tantive IV_'s arrival at Mon Calamari. They had arrived has discreetly as possible, yet even so a ship carrying three known fugitives and several Jedi younglings and Padawans was noticed by those whose eyes were keenly peeled. Even so, the Mon Cals and the Quarren held no reservations about their arrival here. The Empire was stretching its arm towards every corner of the Galaxy; it was only a matter of time before it reached Mon Calamari, too. The planet's people were not going to give in without a fight as Palpatine's regime opposed everything they believed in. In their eyes, these fugitives from the Empire stood out like a beacon against the Empire's darkness. Mon Calamari could not be their refuge for long, but while they were here, they were offered a hospitality that gave the weary travellers a moment of rest.

Ackbar and Padmé had become fast friends during her time spent in Coral City. He was the leader of the Calamarian Council and had many duties to attend to, but when he did have time to spare, he sought her out. Padmé enjoyed his enlightened conversations. She quickly realized that Ackbar had one of the most tactically gifted minds; these people were lucky to have him as a leader. Should the Empire arrive, Ackbar would provide the best counter-defence they could possibly ask for.

"Even so," Padmé said, "there is no need to be formal between friends, Ackbar."

"Very well, Padmé."

Leia giggled and babbled something, her clear infant voice carrying across the cavernous chambers to Luke and Scout. Ever since Corellia, Scout had become incredibly attached to Padmé and, as a result, the twins. Padmé had heard the girl declare very vehement hatred for children whenever she was around the Jedi younglings, but all traces of that had disappeared. She spent every moment she could with the twins, playing little games with them, laughing and telling stories. Padmé could not understand it. There had been a profound, unprompted change in the excitable teenager. She was more grounded, more serious – though never lacking in her ability to have fun.

Scout, sitting near the water's edge, was holding Padmé's son cautiously in her lap while they investigated the green and blue colours that reflected from deep within the pools. Hearing Leia's voice, Scout turned and looked across the pool. Balancing Luke carefully, she waved back. A moment later, Luke copied her action.

"I think this place has had an effect on the twins," Padmé said lightly, smiling as she watched Scout and Luke go back to their game of watching the colours.

"It appears to be a trend that outsiders are always surprised by what they find here," Ackbar commented.

"Your world is beautiful," Padmé said. "I've had months of gunfire and smoke and running from the Empire. I wish we could stay here longer, but the dangers of being in one place for an extended period of time are too great. As soon as Anakin returns with the others, we'll have to leave."

"Then perhaps someday you can return after this war is over."

Padmé's expression fell. "Some war," she murmured. "We're a group of just a few dozen against thousands. The Empire has its numbers, and Palpatine is crafty – already he has convinced the Galaxy that we are treasonous renegades, and those who do not believe him are so fearful of the wrath he could bring down that they will do nothing."

"In my observations, most will stand by if they believe they can make their way on their own," Ackbar said quietly. "It is easier to live and suffer in the face of oppression than live and die preventing tyranny. You are a very singular woman, Padmé, to do what you must for the sake of billions of people you do not even know."

"Everyone has that duty," Padmé said. "Even if you are the most heartless, self-absorbed person in the Galaxy, you even have an obligation to yourself to prevent political suppression such as this. The general population does not understand the kinds of horrors Palpatine's regime will bring. Or worse – if they do, they do not feel compelled to try to stop it. If they did, Palpatine would never have gained the power he has."

"It's what makes him such a formidable enemy," Ackbar said.

Padmé nodded, brushing a lock of stray hair behind her ear. In her arms, Leia was pointing at the various colourful patterns on the floor, squealing with wide-eyed enthusiasm. There was a profound contrast between the child's blissful happiness and the troubled exchange between the adults.

"We are fighting an uphill battle," she continued. "It can never come to a full war, not the way it is now. We do not have the strength or the numbers. Palpatine has incapacitated or is watching everyone capable of running an underground resistance. Garm Bel Iblis from Corellia is doing what he can, but until we find a way of uniting the small pockets of resistance spread thin across the Galaxy, we are on our own."

"Not entirely," Ackbar said. "You are not as alone as you think. Mon Calamari will stand by you."

"Thank you."

They fell silent, listening to the gentle lapping of the waves against the pools' sides. A myriad of voices echoed across the chamber. Padmé glanced across to the other side, where she saw Bail and Sheltay enter with Whie – though there was only three of them, the cavernous room amplified the sound of their voices, multiplying them and throwing them in every direction.

Seeing the new arrivals, Scout quickly secured Luke and got to her feet. She dashed across the nearest bridge and reached the others, talking animatedly. Her high, energetic voice mingled with the other sounds in the room, but contrasted with them so sharply that it sounded as if a twittering bird had been let loose. She carefully, but quickly, passed Luke to Sheltay while making a face at him, causing him to start laughing uncontrollably. With an undisguisable grin on her face, she seized Whie's hand and dragged the poor, startled boy towards the side of the pool, where she happily sat at the edge with her feet soaking in the water, pointing out the multitude of colours with the energy of a six year old.

Padmé laughed quietly to herself at the sight. She and Ackbar crossed the bridges back to where Bail and Sheltay stood, quietly discussing Scout's antics.

"—the poor boy doesn't quite get it, I think," Bail said.

"Well, he'll get it someday," Sheltay murmured. "Scout will insist on hitting him over the head with it every day until he wakes up."

"Let's hope that he doesn't try to run away when he does open his eyes," Bail said.

"I think there's a part of every man that tries to run away," Sheltay replied. "Continuously."

"And then you have to run right after them and hunt them down," Padmé added, reaching them.

Sheltay grinned. "But that's all part of the fun."

"Oh, of course," Padmé replied. "Poor Whie – Scout's a very fast runner, I doubt he'll be able to escape her for long if he decides to bolt."

Bail rolled his eyes. "Women!"

Padmé and Sheltay chuckled, exchanging glances.

"Young love," Ackbar commented as they watched Scout and Whie. None of them could hear the teenaged Padawans' conversation, but no doubt something Whie had said had prompted Scout to flick water at him, an action that he returned and sent her into reeling gales of laughter that reverberated loudly through the chamber. "Perhaps the time has come for a certain part of the Jedi Code to be rethought."

"It already has," Padmé said. "Believe me, Ackbar, it already has."

As she spoke, something in her heart fell. She was desperate to see Anakin again. He and Kyp and Obi-Wan had been gone for so long now, without any means of contact. She felt in her heart and through her children that Anakin, at least, could not have been seriously injured, but some part of her could not stop worrying that something had waylaid them… or worse.

Padmé was not alone in her worries. Bail was in a much more severe position than she was. Breha's trial continued on Coruscant. Access to the HoloNet kept them updated in the proceedings, but it became so painful for Bail to watch and be unable to do anything that he had stopped paying attention. Padmé, however, wanted to be notified of everything. She was worried for her friend's wife. Breha's actions on Alderaan to cover their escape had sacrificed her freedom and potentially her life. In the months before it would have been a dangerous action for Palpatine to execute such a strong and well-known leader so close to the recent formation of the Empire when the general public was not quite as trusting. So, Palpatine waited until the time was right, until he had the general public under his thumb. He pushed Breha's trial into the most painfully extended situation. Padmé knew how the Emperor's political mind worked. He no doubt wanted to make an example of Breha. If the Queen of Alderaan could fall, then anyone could, and there would be no more questions as to who held the power in the Galaxy. An action such as that would induce a new level of fear… and obedience.

Scout and Whie's laughs were ringing through the complex when Padmé's comm beeped.

She quickly answered it. "Yes?"

"_Senator Amidala,"_ Captain Antilles' voice said hurriedly, _"we've received a message from Jedi Skywalker."_

Padmé's heartbeat quickened. "They're back?" she whispered, fighting to speak through a tight throat.

"_Yes. They are in orbit around the planet. Your husband wishes to speak with you."_

"I'll come up right away."

Bail, Sheltay and Ackbar all looked at her expectantly.

"They've arrived?" Ackbar inquired.

"Anakin's back?" Bail said. "Did they rescue Jaina?"

"Are they all right?" Sheltay asked.

"They're back." Padmé smiled. An uncertain laugh escaped her. "I… I have to go. Upstairs, I mean. Anakin's… well, I have to go. Could one of you take Leia, please?"

Bail took the little girl from her arms. Padmé smiled her thanks and waved farewell, quickly leaving the room. Once out of sight, she ran down the hall to the nearest lift and took it back up to the more populated top levels. Running through the crowd of Mon Cals and Quarren, she skidded to a halt outside the apartment given to her, Bail and the Jedi_. _Palming the door open and dashing inside, Padmé arrived, out of breath, in the room that held the main comm system. Antilles was there, giving coordinates to the flickering blue image of Anakin and Obi-Wan.

The door slid shut behind her. Alerted to the noise that was transferred over the comm, Anakin's eyes began searching for her, even though she hadn't appeared onscreen yet. Antilles turned and nodded to her, gesturing that he would leave. Padmé passed him and approached the comm system.

"Padmé," Anakin breathed when he saw her.

"Anakin." She smiled. It felt like a very long time, troubled time since they had last seen each other. Unfortunately, the rejoicing would have to wait.

Obi-Wan's blue image looked decisively uncomfortable. He coughed.

"Save the moment for later, I guess," Anakin said, voicing what Padmé had been thinking. "We found Jaina."

Padmé closed her eyes and sighed in relief. "Thank the stars!" She opened them again and looked at the faces of her husband and her friend. "I'd been so worried, even though the twins hadn't given me a sign at all—"

Anakin's expression went steely. "I know how connected the three of them have been," he said, "but evidently it's not a fail-safe connection."

"What's wrong?"

"We found her," Obi-Wan began, "rescued her, but—"

"The kriffing son of a Hutt's poisoned her," Anakin said darkly.

Padmé froze. There was no question as to who the "kriffing son of a Hutt" was. If Palpatine had administered some kind of poison into Jaina's system, there was no knowing what it was or what it could do. Palpatine had a reason for everything he had to do, and Padmé knew that considering who Jaina was and her powers, the poison wasn't just about getting rid of her. It would have some other purpose… which meant that it no doubt had something to do with the Force. If they were going to stop the poison, they would need a Jedi Healer.

Padmé's throat constricted. She remembered the HoloNet broadcast that had sent Scout into a fiery anger when they were on Coruscant, blowing their cover. There had been Jedi Healers among those captured…

"She's dying, Padmé," Anakin said. His jaw was tight with tension. His eyes were glued to hers as he spoke. "We don't know if we can fix it or not. We saved her, but we're losing her."

Padmé's mouth felt very dry. "Come down," she said finally. Her hands were trembling as her mind raced ahead, trying to think of a way out of this. "We need to get her off that ship of yours. There are some excellent healers here on the planet, perhaps they can—"

"We need a Jedi Healer," Anakin interrupted. "At best, they have some sort of understanding of what's happening. We won't be able to stay long. As soon as we can leave, we'll leave. We have to get her to a Healer as soon as possible."

"What if there are no Healers?" Padmé said quietly. "We've been watching the HoloNet. Two weeks ago Vokara Che and Winna Di Yuni were captured by Imperials. Countless others have also been caught."

"We'll think of something," Anakin said stiffly. "We're going to come down now. I'll see you soon."

Padmé nodded and the image flickered and went out. She left the room and leaned against the wall just outside the door. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply to keep her rising panic in check. Jaina was poisoned… but she wouldn't die. She couldn't die. Surely Leia would have sensed something if her future daughter was going to fall to this illness.

_What if Anakin's right? What if there's not a fail-safe connection between the two? _Padmé bit her lower lip. _What if that moment on Alderaan was nothing more than a fluke? _

There was so much about the Force and the impacts of time travel that they didn't know, it was hard to take anything for granted.

"News, have we?"

Padmé opened her eyes and looked down. "Yes, Master Yoda," she said.

Chattering laughter burst through the open door of the room Yoda had just come out of. He had been holding a lesson for the younglings, and now that class had ended, they had easily returned to doing what they did best – play.

Again, Padmé felt the odd contrast between what was spoken of and the cheerful background noises. A lump formed in her throat. What she would give to have the happy innocence of a child once more…

"Anakin, Obi-Wan and Kyp have come back," Padmé said. "They've rescued Jaina, but there are complications. Palpatine's poisoned her, and from the sounds of it, they don't know what it is exactly and haven't any idea of a cure. We need a Jedi Healer, but…" Her voice trailed off. "Anakin thinks she's dying."

Yoda slammed his gimer stick into the floor. The loud _thunk_ caused Padmé to jump.

"Find a cure we will," Yoda said. "Stopped, even the strangest illness can be by looking in the least likely of places."

* * *

A small, solemn group composed of Bail, Ackbar, Yoda and the two Jedi Padawans, along with several Mon Cal administrators, joined Padmé at the landing platform as Anakin's ship zoomed and landed easily on the platform. Sheltay had elected to stay behind to watch over the twins and the younglings. Padmé waited, her fingers twisting together, her mind racing as it processed too many thoughts at once.

Jaina was poisoned. How would they cure her if they couldn't even find the source of the poison? Anakin seemed to know more than he was really letting on, but even then he was uncertain of where to start. Yoda believed that anything could be cured by looking in the least likely of places. What did that mean? Was it more obscurity? More riddles? Sometimes the Jedi Master was more than a little frustrating in the way he spoke. It was difficult to get him to speak plainly. Padmé couldn't understand it; there were times when she was sure many problems could have been avoided if Yoda just _spoke_ straight, but he never did for reasons obscured by the Force. Meditation was all fair and Padmé could respect that, but these days were too dangerous to keep anything to yourself.

Though Jaina's condition was the most worrisome of her thoughts, part of Padmé's mind always returned to the situation the Galaxy. Ackbar promised help, but they would never be able to confront the Empire head-on. There was much more that could be accomplished through words. Anakin would never agree to that – he was so blockheaded sometimes, never being able to see far beyond the edge of his lightsaber. The fact that he was the one destined to confront Palpatine and take down the Sith Lord only added to his limited view. Jedi prophecies… what good were they when they left over half the Galaxy behind in the dust?

Though she wished to scrutinize the prophecy, Padmé knew better than that. The Force was a powerful, mystical thing. She may not be able to wield it, but she would do her best to understand it. After all, she had seen its power in work – Kyp and Jaina's presence here was due only to the Force. Though part of her mind believed that Palpatine could be defeated by politics if enough people stood up against him, the fact that he was a Sith Lord remained. He was yet to unleash a staggering amount of power against the Galaxy, but he could very well do so. If he was ever forced to, or decided to, utilize all of his strengths against the general public, only one Jedi would be capable of stopping him. There was only Anakin.

The ship's ramp lowered and there was a collective inhale of breath as they waited for their friends to appear. Slowly, Obi-Wan and Kyp, looking worse for wear but generally healthy, came down the ramp, supporting a very fragile Jaina between them. Padmé suppressed a gasp when she saw her. Though Jaina looked as though she was insisting on doing her own walking – no doubt she had vehemently refused to be carried – she was weaker than Padmé had ever seen her. Her head had been shaved and the lack of hair only enhanced the sleepless, pale look, the reddish eyes, and the faint bruises on her cheeks. She was still wearing a dull grey prison uniform, which revealed the marks all over her arms left behind by whatever they had used to torture her. Padmé fell sick as her eyes fell on the worst, but most noticeable, trait – Jaina's right arm had been removed at the elbow, replaced by a metal prosthetic.

_That kriffing son of a Hutt,_ Padmé thought angrily, her thoughts echoing Anakin's earlier words.

There were murmured words of greeting to the three Jedi as they reached them. Scout looked as though she wanted to run up and give Jaina a hug, but she restrained herself. One look at Jaina's frail form was enough. Jaina smiled, attempting to give the pretence that she was all right, but it wasn't working.

"Jaina," Padmé said softly, gently hugging her. "Welcome home."

"Thank you," Jaina whispered.

"And you two," Padmé said, stepping back to address both Obi-Wan and Kyp. "Welcome back."

"Thank you, Senator," Obi-Wan said.

Kyp didn't speak at all, but nodded curtly in acknowledgement. His eyes flashed to Jaina.

"All three of you should go to the med centre," Bail said. "Councillor Ackbar has been kind enough to offer us hospitality while we stay here. The medics will look after you."

"I'm fine," Jaina insisted, her voice hoarse.

"Jaina, you're not fine," Kyp growled.

"I'm _fine._ I…" But already she was too tired to argue.

Padmé's attention wavered from the scene as Obi-Wan and Kyp convinced Jaina to sit down in the hover chair and be taken to the medcentre. R2-D2's wild beeping preceded the droid as he rolled down the ramp. Just behind him was Anakin.

"Anakin!"

Padmé rushed towards him, meeting him when he was only half-way down the ramp. She saw his eyes shine brighter as he caught her and kissed her fervently.

"Ouch!" He drew away, one hand clamped to his side.

"What happened?" Padmé asked, her eyes drawn to the wound that he had clumsily patched up himself.

"I got stabbed," Anakin said, wincing, "by a sadistic Palpatine-wannabe… except she wasn't Force sensitive."

"Here, lean on me," Padmé said, taking his arm around her shoulders. Anakin obliged – in the way that he let her have the semblance of helping him, but he really took the bulk of his own weight and continued to limp down the ramp.

"Palpatine's got his cronies well-trained," Anakin added. There was a savage tone under his words that he was fighting to keep at bay.

"You should really go to the medcentre," Padmé said.

"I don't want to," Anakin said quickly. "I'm fine."

Padmé rolled her eyes. "You are _not_ fine and I'm not going to be happy until you get that wound looked after properly. You've never really taken such things seriously on the battlefield."

"I don't know what you're complaining about," Anakin grumbled. "I'm _fine."_

"You've been stabbed!" Padmé said loudly.

"It's nothing that can't be fixed without a good healing trance," Anakin muttered under his breath.

Padmé sighed. "You are impossible."

The rest of the group was moving on to the medcentre. Padmé and Anakin trailed behind, R2 running along beside them. In truth, Anakin appeared much worse than he seemed when she had seen him via the comm system earlier in the day. He was pale and there were bags under his eyes; he seemed drained of his energy. There was a multitude of cuts, scrapes and bruises on his skin, souvenirs from the trials he went through to rescue Jaina. Most worrisome was the stab-wound in his side. Anakin's movements were much slower, and though he fought to keep a good illusion, Padmé knew that he was in pain every step he took. He would do everything he could to hide it. He always played the hero – he wouldn't lean on anyone for help, even when he needed it.

He protested all the way to the medcentre, so much so that he had winded himself by the time they arrived. He wasn't the only one – Obi-Wan and Kyp were both refusing medical attention. Their primary focus was Jaina, who had already been admitted to a private ward.

"Anakin," Padmé said quietly, drawing him aside outside the medcentre.

"The only reason for me going in there is to see Jaina," he said immediately.

"Stop being impulsive, please," Padmé said firmly. "You are exhausted. Stars know what you've been through in these long past weeks. I've been anxious about you the entire time, and now that you're back, I don't need that to continue. Please, Ani. For me – go in and let the medics take care of you. You don't have to do everything yourself. It's okay to lean on others from time to time." She smiled and kissed his cheek.

Anakin's shoulders slumped. "All right," he said. "Fine."

They went inside and were met by a couple of helpful medics. As Padmé had feared, Anakin's wound was more serious than he let on, and he was immediately taken for examination and treatment. Obi-Wan and Kyp, despite their protests that all they needed was sleep, were also treated, but neither was in a serious condition.

There was a flurry of activity in the next several hours. Though Padmé wanted to be with Anakin, she was politely asked to leave as the collected group of worried visitors was becoming a hindrance to the medics work. Padmé took Scout and Whie – Scout was reverting back to having the energies of a six-year-old, considering the way she was clamouring to see the exhausted Jedi – and returned to the apartment with Bail, Sheltay and Yoda, where they waited for news. The younglings, unaware of the situation, were happily playing _Bantha, Bantha, Mynock_ under the supervision of C-3PO in a separate room.

"Is Jaina all right?" Scout asked, pacing back and forth across the large common space.

"We don't know yet," Padmé said calmly.

"Is Anakin all right?"

"Same thing, Scout," Padmé said, leaning her forehead against her hand as she tried to keep the irritation out of her voice.

Scout fell silent for a moment. She jumped on to the arm of the nearest couch and sat there pensively, her legs swinging back and forth. "When can we see them?" she asked.

Padmé groaned. Before she could answer, Whie stepped in.

"Scout," he said, "let's see what the younglings are up to."

She made a face. "I don't really feel like playing _Bantha, Bantha, Mynock_ right now, thanks—"

"Scout?"

"What?"

She saw the hidden message in his expression. "Oh. Okay." Her cheeks flushed red. "Sorry, Padmé."

Padmé smiled slightly. "That's okay, Scout. How about you two go check up on the younglings anyway?" she suggested. "It might not be a bad idea, knowing children."

"Okay," Scout said agreeably, jumping down off the arm of the couch. She and Whie walked to the end of the room. Padmé watched, a small smile forming on her lips as the Jedi Padawans' hands clasped together almost subconsciously as they went out the door.

The waiting seemed endless. Padmé's hands remained folded tightly in her lap; she stared down at them, her eyes sliding in and out of focus.

"I am sure they will all be fine," Ackbar said comfortingly from across the room.

Padmé looked up. "Thank you."

"We do have some very fine medics here," he added.

"But no Jedi Healers," Padmé whispered softly. She could not voice her worry about Jaina's condition to Ackbar – at least, not yet. She trusted him and his judgment, but certain things that involved Jaina and Anakin had to remain secret to all but those who could somewhat fathom them.

Her fingers twisted together. Her relief at seeing her husband and her friends again had been all but destroyed by the conditions they had arrived in. She could not shake the feeling that though they were, for the moment, safe and alive, things were just about to get much worse.

Her comm beeped.

"Yes?"

"_Padmé?"_ Obi-Wan's voice came through clearly.

She stood up. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"_Not entirely, no… But I think you and Master Yoda should come down here as soon as possible."_

"We're on our way."

Padmé said a rushed goodbye to Ackbar, who had to leave the apartment to attend to duties acquired of him as Councillor, and went to find Yoda. The Jedi Master was in his room, meditating. He must have sensed Padmé coming even before she knocked on the door, because as soon as she arrived, the door slid open and he came out, walking with a brisk determination to get to the medcentre as soon as possible.

They were silent until they reached the medcentre. Obi-Wan was waiting outside for them, his collection of scrapes and scratches treated with bacta patches. He still looked exhausted, but there was a look in his eye that notified Padmé that he was resolved to tell them whatever he had to say before passing out. R2 was with him. The droid beeped a greeting as Padmé and Yoda approached.

"What is it, Obi-Wan?" Padmé asked. "Are Anakin and Jaina and Kyp all right?"

"Anakin should be fine," Obi-Wan answered. "The wound was deep and he lost a good deal of blood, but he has an endurance that's leaving the medics a bit baffled. They've patched him up and are making sure that he gets some sleep. He wants to see you – as soon as he wakes up, that is, which won't be for another few hours at least. Kyp's with Jaina. There wasn't much they could do to stop him from marching right into her ward. She's asleep, too – they gave her something to keep her from dreaming."

"Have they been able to do anything about the poison?" Padmé asked as they began walking down the hall.

Obi-Wan's expression fell. "No," he said shortly. "And I don't think they will. This is what I wanted to talk to you about. When we were in Kuduran – the prison where they were keeping her – I was separated from the others and came across some information that describes quite clearly what they were doing to her."

"And?" Padmé's voice was very quiet.

Obi-Wan stopped walking. "I think we're out of our depths."

For once in her life, Padmé was lost for words as she listened to Obi-Wan recount the details of the data he recovered at Kuduran. The unfolding tale about experiments on captive, non-human Jedi and the unexpected, dangerous effects Delik-66 had on Jaina left her cold. She could not even begin to comprehend the tragedy was to befall Jaina. All the knowledge that Obi-Wan retrieved pointed towards Jaina being trapped in an unstoppable state of change where she would ultimately dissolve into the Force. The fundamentals of the mystical energy field that bound the universe together could be explained to her a thousand times, but there was some part of Padmé's mind that could just not grasp all of the concepts.

Palpatine had done this to Jaina. By his domineering will to understand the workings of the universe, he had killed countless Jedi, throwing away their lives as if they meant nothing. This was a side of her past mentor Padmé had rarely seen. She was overly familiar with the oily politician who tore apart an entire governmental system and rebuilt it with himself at its heart. His dictatorial will was terrifying enough in that field alone. But this… this was a side that chilled Padmé to the bone. What had occurred at Kuduran were the doings of a scientist who would do anything, no matter what the cost, to prove a point or discover some hidden fact that would usher him along towards his ultimate goal.

While Obi-Wan spoke, they had found a small, secluded area overlooking the ocean below. The sun was setting, casting a bright red and gold glow across the waves. Mon Calamari no longer looked peaceful; the crimson waters were angry. Padmé tore her eyes from the window and sat down on the nearest available seat.

"Master Yoda," Obi-Wan said, "is there anything you can think of? Anything that would help? Is there some way that we can save her?"

The Jedi Master looked troubled. He leaned heavily on his gimer stick as he answered. "Such a terrible fate, would it be, to dissolve into the Force? Become one with it?"

"How can you say that?" Padmé exclaimed. "Are you suggesting that we do nothing?"

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped himself. "He has a point, Padmé," he said finally. He sounded as if he didn't like what he was saying.

"We can't just sit here and let her die!" Padmé shouted.

"Death it would not be," Yoda answered flatly, jabbing his gimer stick in her direction. "If struck down, more powerful, she would become."

Padmé cursed under her breath. "You Jedi and your philosophies! Not everyone revolves around your precious Force!"

"Padmé," Obi-Wan began, but she cut across him.

"Don't tell me that this is something that I can't understand, Obi-Wan," Padmé snapped. "Because I… I _don't_, and I know that full well, but I am not going to sit here and wait around for Jaina to die! I'm going to do something about it, and you better well do that, too. She doesn't belong in this time, she has to survive to return home. I can't put any mysterious Force philosophies behind that statement, but I just know that she should. She can't die here."

"Do you think either of us want her to die?" Obi-Wan said quietly.

Padmé's anger slowly faded. "No," she said. "No. I know you better than that."

There was a heavy silence. Yoda appeared lost in thought. He looked at neither Padmé nor Obi-Wan as he gnawed surreptitiously on the edge of his gimer stick.

"Nothing can we do," he said finally, "but wait and watch. In this matter no choice we have. Master Kenobi—"

"Yes? Is there something that I can do? Something that would help?"

Yoda shook his head. "No… no. Something I have kept hidden from the Jedi for many hundreds of years, there is. Tell it to you now, I must. Need for it, there is."

"What is it, Master Yoda?" Obi-Wan looked a little confused.

Padmé had never seen Yoda more troubled than he was now.

"Ashamed of it, I have been," he said. "Sought to hide it, I did. In my youth, I looked to search beyond the view of the Jedi. I believed then the purpose of the Force was deeper than the Jedi philosophies. Darth Sidious, Jaina Solo and Kyp Durron are not alone. Witness the most powerful and dangerous aspect of the Force, others have. Seen the powers of time, I have."

Padmé was stunned. She couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. Perhaps she had misunderstood Yoda's words, misinterpreted his speech.

"You're a time traveller?" Obi-Wan said incredulously.

The Jedi Master nodded.

"Why didn't you mention this before?" Obi-Wan demanded. "You could have helped them!"

Yoda shook his head. "Buried deep in my past, it was, after I returned to my present time. Dangerous, time is. Meddled in, it should not be. Darkness has cloaked the Galaxy since Jaina and Kyp came. Someone sent them. Aware of the key to time travel, they are not. A secret, there is, to manipulating time. Even I do not know what. I was accompanied by another in my days of travel.

"Meant to happen, perhaps their arrival was. Perhaps not. But whatever purpose brought Jaina and Kyp, affect it, I did not want."

"You were going to stand by and watch things play out?" Obi-Wan said coldly.

"Time should not be meddled with!" Yoda said irritably, banging his stick on the floor. "More pressing matters we have now: Delik-66." He fell silent for a moment, chewing the end of his gimer stick. "To the time when Delik-66 was first invented, I went once," he said finally. "Far in the future, it is from. Seen its creation, I have, but also I know it was never perfected. Stolen from its creator, it was. Now I know Sidious is responsible."

"The files said that the creator's name was Jarvlis Arkheenan," Obi-Wan said. "You met him?"

The Jedi Master nodded. "Understand fully what he had created, Arkheenan did not. Perhaps… hmm. The key to life, perhaps it was. Use it as a cure for the terminally ill, he wanted. Instead, created a substance that drastically affected midichlorians within a living being, he did."

"Everyone except for Jaina lost all of their Force-sensitivity," Obi-Wan said. "The data… their midichlorian counts disappeared."

"Cause of death," Yoda said simply. "The Force binds us all together. Tree, beast and being. Responsible for the spark of life, midichlorians perhaps are. In every living thing, one way or another, they are. Take them away—"

"And you die," Obi-Wan said grimly.

"That is what Delik-66 does."

"But that's not what Jaina's midichlorians are doing," Obi-Wan said. "She's growing more powerful, day by day. I can feel it. We all can. Any Force-sensitive close to her could feel it."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Padmé asked, her voice a bit wild. Her head hurt trying to keep up with a topic that was not her forte. She couldn't help but think that Anakin, Kyp and Jaina herself should be privy to what Yoda was telling them, but at the same time they needed rest. They needed a moment without worry. This conversation would not do that.

"Not if it causes her to dissolve into the Force," Obi-Wan said.

They were back to where they had begun.

"Master Yoda, do you know why she's reacting this way?" Obi-Wan asked tentatively. "Technically the Delik-66 should have completely destroyed her midichlorians, like the others—"

"Time traveller, she is," Yoda interrupted. "The effect of travelling through time has taken its toll. She is different. Warped Delik-66 for his own purposes, Darth Sidious has. To be invincible is his wish. The first step towards that, Jaina's reaction is, for he is a time traveller just like she."

"Then let's hope that all of it was destroyed when Kuduran was," Obi-Wan said darkly. "Otherwise we've got a serious problem if Sidious ever finds out how to develop it even further."

Yoda nodded. "To save Jaina, wait and observe, we must."

"But," Padmé began to protest.

"No," Yoda said firmly. "Wait and observe. Nothing else we can do. At play, forces beyond our power are."

Padmé fell silent. There was so much going on that no one understood. Again, a feeling of helplessness was creeping up on her. There was a world beyond her understanding that contributed mightily to the balance of the Galaxy. Padmé had spent much of her life associated with the Jedi. She had a basic knowledge, but even then she relied on Anakin and other Jedi to explain when she needed them to.

The severity of the situation was quite obvious when even the wisest of the Jedi couldn't explain what would happen next.


	55. Skywalker Ties

**CHAPTER LV**

**Skywalker Ties**

Anakin slept fitfully, but did not wake. The drugs administered by the Mon Cal medics kept him in a healing sleep, yet did not prevent his mind from drifting restlessly between the confusing, intertwined images that plagued his dreams. One moment he was standing beneath the eaves of a forest, the silver glow of four moons shining down upon him; the next, the sands of Tatooine stretched out endlessly. He was walking, the landscapes around him ever-changing. Deserts, forests, vast expanses of wasteland – all were the same. He had a fleeting idea that all had to be passed to reached his destination, a place he desperately wanted to see, yet strangely, at the same time, did not want to visit. Every now and then he caught glimpses of people in his peripheral vision – women dressed in dark clothing accessorised by strangely tribal jewellery. Whenever Anakin tried to get a better look, they would disappear.

Finally, the whirling landscapes solidified into a forest. Anakin's dream self sped up his pace, spurred on by his desire to find his destination. Farther up the path, the forest dissolved into the mouth of a cave. There was only one moon now. Beneath its light, Anakin could make out strange markings carved into the walls of the cave entrance: a reptilian creature, one that resembled a Duinuogwuin, and a thorned flower.

There were flower petals littering the passage that led inside the cave. They were blood red and withered.

Anakin approached the cave entrance, knowing that he must enter. Blood was pounding in his ears. He could hear nothing but the thundering pulses; it was almost as if he was hearing his own heart beat three times over. He took a step forwards –

The cave disappeared into a whirl of colour and a rush of howling wind. In the confusion of colour and sound, he saw a pair of violet eyes, burning with fiery power, staring purposefully at him –

_Anakin?_

A woman's voice sounded from far away; a soft, familiar chime almost like music in the distance.

He was surrounded by darkness again. He took a breath.

_Anakin, are you awake?_

"Padmé…"

Anakin's eyes opened. He winced and closed them immediately as sharp, painful light blasted them. Taking a breath, he smelt Padmé's familiar fragrance in the sterile air of the med room and re-opened his eyes.

She was sitting at his bedside, her fingers clasped around his left hand. She looked pale and there were deep bags under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept at all.

"Please tell me you got some sleep and didn't spend all your time waiting for me to regain consciousness," he said.

Padmé released a small, unwilling laugh. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Like I just got out of a pod wreck at a crash site. Nothing I can't deal with."

Padmé arched an eyebrow. "Anakin—"

"I feel fine," he said, sitting up. He was glancing quickly around the room as he spoke. "A bit stiff and a bit sore, but perfectly fine." There was no one else in the room except himself and Padmé. Evidently she had badgered the medics into giving them some time alone. "How are the others?"

"They're fine."

"And Jaina?"

A dark look passed Padmé's face. Anakin immediately knew that Jaina's condition was what had been worrying his wife the most since their return from Kuduran. There was a nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach. If Jaina wasn't healing… if she was getting worse –

"She's fine for now," Padmé said quickly, reading Anakin's expression. "The medics have done all they can for her. She's a bit stronger now – or so the medics say. She's still asleep."

"Do you know about the Delik-66?"

Padmé nodded, her lips pursed together. She seemed to have gone even paler. "There's a complication," she said quietly.

"A _complication?_ Does Yoda know?"

"Yes," Padmé said, "but even he doesn't know how her condition could be corrected before it gets out of hand—"

"Then find a Jedi Healer!"

"There _are_ none! Besides, we don't even know if they are skilled enough to heal her of the Delik-66! Yoda has advised us that there is nothing we can do except observe her condition! Anakin, get back in bed, you still need your rest!"

Anakin had thrown off the white sheets and swung himself off the bed. The med room's floor was icy cold on the soles of his feet; the touch seem to bring him further back into reality. He began searching the room for his Jedi robes. He found his boots first, thrown hastily under his bed, and pulled them on without socks to save the bottoms of his feet further torment from the freezing floor.

"I'm fine, Padmé," he said as he wrenched open the white cabinet standing in the corner of his room. He found his robes hanging inside, freshly laundered, along with his utility belt and lightsaber.

His wife stood up and folded her arms, her fiery glare staring him down as she watched him strip off the med robe he had slept in and begin to change quickly into his normal attire. Her gaze softened as she caught sight of the thin white scar on his side, a souvenir from the stab wound Isard had given him at Kuduran.

"What?" he asked gently.

Padmé was pressing the back of her hand against her lips. "Nothing," she mumbled.

Anakin frowned. Throwing his undertunic on hastily to hide the scar, he crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her. Her fingers clutched the material of his tunic as she pressed her face against his chest, her eyes suddenly streaming with tears. They stood like that for a moment before Anakin pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"It's okay," he murmured. "How about you tell me what's wrong?"

They sat down on Anakin's bed. Anakin put an arm around Padmé's shoulder as she leaned against him, the tears falling uncontrollably now.

"You… you d-don't know w-what it's l-like," she said, trembling now. "W-waiting endlessly each time you go off on some foolhardy mission, leaving me without any way of contacting you, leaving me to only guess and dread what might be happening to you. And each time you come back, you're always in a miserable state…" She sat up and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "You have no idea what it's like for those of us who are left behind, Anakin," she said quietly, her brown eyes meeting his. "It frightens me. All these long years, there has never been a moment where I haven't been concerned for your safety, where I haven't imagined that next time you might never come back. For all I know, how many missions of these have almost ended with your death?" She stifled a sob. "And it's not just you, now. There's Obi-Wan, too. And Kyp… and Jaina. Jaina's _dying_ and there's nothing anyone can do about it."

Anakin clenched his teeth. A powerful surge of anger towards Palpatine had swept through him, but he forced himself to relax.

"Padmé," he said quietly, "believe it or not, I do have some inkling of how you feel. How many times could I _not_ let myself get distracted by worrying about you? You were one of the most targeted Senators throughout the Clone Wars. Even now, that hasn't changed. Whenever I've been away, I had to work to prevent myself from running back to wherever you were to make sure that you were still safe."

They were quiet for a moment.

"I suppose it makes us an easier target," Padmé murmured. "For _him._ Take out one of us, and we nearly fall apart with grief."

"No," Anakin said firmly. "It _doesn't_ make us an easier target. We have family. We have friends. We have something that he could never have: love. It makes us stronger, because, in the end, we have something worth fighting for and that hope for a better Galaxy is something that Sidious can never destroy."

The ghost of a smile touched Padmé's lips as she looked up at him. There was some colour returning to her face now. "What… what if we can't save Jaina?" she whispered. She sounded as if she had been dreading asking the question.

Anakin's expression hardened. "I'm not going to let that happen," he said flatly.

How long they sat there in silence on the edge of Anakin's bed, they didn't know. What they did know was that it was a moment they both needed. It had been such a long time since they had seen each other. All the worries and fears that had grown in the time spent apart were washed away as they sat quietly together, their hands intertwined. No more words needed to be spoken.

Finally, Anakin rose and began to finish getting dressed, significantly more slowly than he had before. Padmé's tears had stopped, and she had returned to her chair, where she sat in silence, apparently lost in thought. Anakin broke her reverie after he had fastened his utility belt and began searching the room for the one thing he was missing.

"Where are my socks?"

Padmé jumped in her seat and looked at him abruptly.

"Pardon?"

Anakin, who was on the floor checking under his bed, rose to his feet. "Do you know where my socks are?"

Padmé snorted. Anakin distinctly saw her roll her eyes. He grimaced, annoyed. Socks were always something that had gone missing when he had visited her at her apartment on Coruscant. There had been many days when he had had to run to the Jedi Temple without socks. The blisters that formed on his feet throughout the day had been hellish.

It all seemed like a very long time ago now.

Reaching into a pocket, Padmé withdrew a pair of fresh black socks and threw them over the bed to Anakin.

"You always forget your socks, don't you," she sighed as he caught them.

Anakin stared at her, bewildered. "Why in the name of the Force were you carrying socks in your pocket?"

Padmé shot him a smug look. "Because _I_ happen to know my husband awfully well. If it had to be anything you'd misplace, it would be your socks."

Anakin rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed, pulling his boots off to put on the socks. The door buzzed and Padmé went to answer it. A moment later, Anakin felt two very familiar presences quietly murmuring to him through the Force. They had no words, but rather a series of happy, blissful images. Anakin grinned. Jumping on one foot to finish putting on his left boot, he rushed to the door to see Padmé holding Leia in her arms and Sheltay Retrac in the doorway, holding Luke. The twins let out a babble of happy cries.

"They've missed their father," Padmé said, smiling lightly as Anakin took Luke from Sheltay. Sheltay quickly left, leaving the Skywalkers to their family reunion.

Leia was gurgling happily in Padmé's arms, her warm, brown eyes wide with curiosity. With an odd feeling, Anakin realized that Leia's eyes were almost identical to Jaina's. He quickly swallowed the funny feeling in his throat and looked down at Luke instead, who was taking in his surroundings with serene interest. He gave his father a small smile, his blue eyes sparkling, and then Anakin saw a mixture of images swarm into his mind from his son – vibrant green fields, azure waterfalls and lakes, a golden sun… the daydreams of an infant.

"Dada?" a tiny, inquisitive voice said.

Both Anakin and Padmé looked with surprise at Leia, who was the one who had spoken. She was grinning happily at her father, one tiny arm outstretched, as if she was demanding a hug from him. She could barely contain her excitement in seeing him.

"Yes, Leia," Anakin said quietly, unable to stop grinning himself, "I'm glad to see you, too."

"Da da da da!" Leia said brightly.

Anakin couldn't help but laugh.

The door buzzed again and Obi-Wan entered. "Sorry to burst in," he said quickly. A faint smile touched his lips as he looked at the happy family. "Anakin, Jaina's awake. She'd like to see you."

"Of course," he said immediately. He looked at Padmé.

"We'll be fine," she said. "The children and I don't mind waiting. Do we?" she added, looking down at Leia.

"Da da da da!"

"Big speaker, that one," Anakin said jokingly to his daughter, letting her catch hold of his finger as he supported her brother in his arms. "I suppose you'll be like your mother one day."

"Da da da da da!"

Anakin straightened and looked at Padmé. "What do you think?" he said. "Yes or no?"

An amused expression crossed Padmé's face. It was something Anakin hadn't seen for a very long time. "What does the Force tell you?" she asked, unable to conceal the smile playing on her lips.

"I think," Anakin said, trying to get Leia to release his finger, "that our daughter agrees with me." He looked down at Leia and raised his eyebrows. "Okay, that's enough. Daddy has to go now. But don't you two worry; I'll be back once I see Jaina."

An unhappy but accepting look appeared on Leia's tiny face. Perhaps it was Anakin's imagination, but he could have sworn he had seen Luke roll his eyes at his sister at that moment. Passing Luke to Obi-Wan, Anakin left the room and headed down the hallway towards Jaina's own room.

The elated feeling that had overcome him at the appearance of his children fell as he made his way down the hall. The medics that passed him occasionally asked him how he was feeling; there were several that intended to put him back into bed for additional rest and healing, but Anakin assured them that he was fine. It was the truth, for the most part. There was a dull ache in his side from Isard's stab wound, but apart from that and some stiffness, he was feeling himself again. As he approached Jaina's room, his concern for her was beginning to overcome him.

He could keep his mantra that she would not die if he could help it… but that was just it. Padmé had said that Yoda said that there was nothing they could do for her right now, Jedi Healer or no Jedi Healer. What if they could never manage to do anything at all and Jaina faded away into the Force, wiped from existence entirely?

_Don't think about that,_ he told himself firmly. _It's not going to happen. We have to deal with facts, not what ifs and maybes._

Jaina was sitting up in bed, dressed in one of the white robes the medics gave their patients. She was hooked up to a few humming machines that were monitoring her condition. It looked as though she had been awake for a while, as she had washed and the remains of a breakfast lay on the small table beside her bed. Her head was covered with what looked like dark brown fuzz – her hair had begun to grow back. Anakin had never fully registered how odd she looked without her long hair until now.

Kyp was sitting crookedly in a chair beside Jaina's bed, his head resting on the armrest, eyes closed and snoring loudly. He was unshaven and in need of a shower. Evidently once the medics had applied bacta patches to his wounds, he had gone to Jaina's room and had not left since.

Jaina looked up as Anakin entered the room. She smiled faintly. "Hello, Anakin," she said.

Anakin was about to return her greeting when he almost doubled over in shock and discomfort. Jaina's Force presence had swelled; the only thing Anakin could sense was his granddaughter. For a moment, it was almost as if her mind threatened to invade his own. He screwed his eyes shut in an attempt to push it aside, to form a block to keep her presence from bearing unnaturally down upon him.

Jaina noticed what he was trying to do. "I've been trying to pull it back," she said quietly. "But for some reason I can't. You aren't the only one who's had to create a block. Yoda, Obi-Wan… Kyp. They've all been overwhelmed. Yoda wants a midichlorian test done, the medics are trying to get a hold of the equipment now but with the Jedi Temple destroyed, it will be difficult."

"I don't think we need the equipment to tell what's happening," Anakin said weakly, pulling another chair over and sitting down by her bed. "You're growing more powerful in the Force day by day."

"I know," Jaina said. She leaned her head against the massive amounts of pillows keeping her in a sitting position. "My midichlorian count is rising."

Jaina still looked frail. Strangely, she looked even worse now that she was clean. The bruises on her cheeks were even more visible under her pale skin. The lacerations she had attained during torture over her weeks in imprisonment had been covered with bacta patches and were healing well, but she no doubt would have received some scarring. The prosthetic attached by the doctors at Kuduran after they had amputated her lower right arm, was now gone. The stump had been cleaned and bandaged.

"I wanted it gone," Jaina explained when she caught Anakin staring at it. "I'd rather go without an arm than wear that _thing_ that Palpatine's people made for me." She shrugged. "Besides, one of my friends…" She paused, slightly perplexed as to how to word the sentence. "One of my friends from home, Tenel Ka, she lost her arm and she refused to wear any replacement."

"Why's that?" Anakin asked, curious.

"She refused to accept it as a weakness," Jaina answered. "She decided that she was going to enhance her physical strength and Jedi talents to make up for her loss. In fact, for her it was never really much of a loss." Suddenly, Jaina rolled her eyes. "Jacen felt so guilty for such a long time. He felt responsible for cutting off her arm."

"Your brother?"

Jaina nodded. "He and Tenel Ka were sparring and her newly-constructed lightsaber malfunctioned. It was an accident, nothing more."

She had an odd expression on her face. Anakin knew what it was – he had rarely heard her reminisce about her brother, Jacen. He knew that Palpatine was responsible for Jacen's death, and that event was also the reason that had spurred Jaina into coming to the past to set things right in the hopes that when she returned, she would see her brother alive again.

It was strange for Anakin. He knew that Jaina was his granddaughter, but because she was a time traveller, she had taken a different place in his heart. She was family. She was a sister to him. It was odd for him to hear about people from her past who he would hopefully know in the future because they would remind him of who Jaina really was. Perhaps the significance of the Galaxy-changing events that had occurred in the past few months made him feel some days that he had known her his entire life… when in reality there was very little that he knew about her and her past. Because her past was his future, parts of it were forbidden to him.

There were things about Jaina that he would never know, yet at the same time he felt as if he knew her as well as he knew himself.

"Lost in thought?" Jaina asked simply.

Anakin shook himself. "Yeah… a bit."

"I know," she said. "I do that sometimes, too."

They were silent for a moment. The only noise in the room were the hums of the machines monitoring Jaina and Kyp's snores.

"That one needs to wake up and go take a shower," Jaina said, looking at Kyp with a soft expression on her face. Unable to reach Kyp with her left hand, she levitated one of her pillows on the end of her bed and threw it at him. It bounced off harmlessly and on to the floor. Kyp continued snoring.

Rolling her eyes, Jaina turned back to Anakin. "How are you doing?" she asked.

He shrugged. "All right, I guess."

"Just all right, then?" Jaina sat up straighter and raised an eyebrow in a remarkably Padmé-like fashion.

This was another one of the times when Anakin was reminded fully that Jaina _was_ his granddaughter, and not a sister.

"Yes," Anakin said firmly.

He could tell that Jaina did not believe him, but he did not want to admit to her that he was worried for her safety and terrified that they would not be able to find a cure in time.

Anakin's eyes fell back to the stump of Jaina's arm. An idea was forming in his mind.

"What would you do, Jaina?" he asked suddenly.

"About what?"

"Would you be like your friend, Tenel Ka?" he continued. "Would you train yourself physically and mentally so much that your loss would not longer be a loss?"

She looked a bit puzzled at this statement. "I'm not sure," Jaina said. "I haven't given it a lot of thought yet. I suppose after wearing that _dreadful_ thing in prison, I might not want another prosthetic. I had a dream last night that I made one myself, though. I just don't know."

"I'll make you one."

Jaina looked a bit taken aback. "Thanks, Anakin, but you don't have to do that, you have too much—"

"I will!" The idea had bloomed fully in Anakin's mind now. "I swear, Jaina, I'll make you the best arm. Even better than my own and I have to say that this one is pretty good." He clenched his mechanical fingers as he spoke.

Jaina's eyes flickered to his prosthetic arm. "All right," she said. There was a strange look on her face. Suddenly, she shook her head. "There seems to be a Skywalker tradition of having limbs removed in battle," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, first you, then my uncle, now me…" She sunk back into the pillows once again and closed her eyes. "Hopefully that won't happen to Luke again," she said quietly.

Anakin stared at her.

"L-luke?" he spluttered. _"Luke?!"_

Jaina winced. She was probably wishing that she hadn't revealed that piece of information. "Don't worry about it, Anakin," she said firmly, opening her eyes and fixing him with a solid gaze. "That particular accident will not happen this time around."

Anakin was still spluttering. The idea of his son following in his own footsteps of dangerous lightsaber duels… well, it made sense. He'd just hoped that his own children would have learned from their father's mistakes and have avoided amputation. Anakin loved machinery and he loved creating and building things, but there were many days when he wished that he had two arms that were fully flesh and blood instead of one.

Jaina had shut her eyes again. "Make sure Kyp actually gets some proper sleep," she said, trying to position herself so she was the most comfortable. "And tell him I don't mean curled up in a chair at my bedside day in and day out."

Anakin had to choke back a laugh. "I'll let him know."

Jaina's eyes opened a crack. "Thanks, Anakin." Her voice was tired and soon she was fast asleep on her mountain of pillows.

Anakin rose to leave. As he exited the room, he glanced back and saw that there was a small, peaceful smile on Jaina's face.


	56. The Departure of Bail Organa

**CHAPTER LVI**

**The Departure of Bail Organa**

Anakin's plans to build Jaina a mechanical arm begun as soon as he convinced the medics that he did not required any more of their attention. He and Padmé went to speak to Ackbar, who directed them to several Mon Cals who could gather the required parts Anakin would need. Having designed and built his own mechanical arm, Anakin knew exactly what he would need to do for Jaina's. He had a few modifications that he had wanted to put on his own when he got the chance, so he decided that he would try them out on hers. There were changes that would have to be made, as Jaina was female and was also a lot smaller than he was. As the others had planned to hold a meeting to trade information and discuss their options once Jaina recovered enough to leave the medcentre for a few hours at a time, Anakin took the chance to work feverishly on his new project.

Padmé tackled Jaina's request of getting Kyp to leave her bedside and get himself looked after.

The dream Anakin had had during the time he had been in the medcentre continued to plague his thoughts as it continued to return. Every night, Anakin saw the same forest, the same four moons, the women who seemed to be following him but who would always disappear as soon as he tried to get a closer look. His dream self always returned to the cave. No matter how many landscapes he travelled through, he would always end up at the mouth of the cave and start his descent into it… and then there was a flash of violet eyes and he would wake up.

Anakin had had recurring dreams before – recurring nightmares, even. However, this time he chose not to be perturbed by his nightly visions as he was wrapped up in building Jaina's new arm. During the day, Anakin rarely saw anyone besides Padmé and the twins because he was constantly working on the prosthetic. Half a week of solid work had passed when Obi-Wan finally showed up in the room, looking flustered and stressed.

"Where have you been hiding?" he snapped uncharacteristically angry.

Anakin did not look up from his work station. He was fiddling with two very important pieces that if not wired together properly, the entire arm would not function and he would have to start from the beginning. "What do you want, Obi-Wan?" Anakin said testily.

"Yoda and I have been trying to find you," Obi-Wan said heatedly. "If we're ever going to do something about the Sidious situation, you'd better stop that tinkering and come down and meet with the others. There's some important information that needs sharing and you better be there to hear it."

"All right, _all right!"_ Anakin shouted.

It was almost like having déjà-vu of many moments during Anakin's time as Obi-Wan's apprentice. Anakin glared at his former master over the pieces of the half-made mechanical arm and finally set it down carefully.

"What's this all about?" he asked irritably as he and Obi-Wan made their way down the corridors.

"Debriefing," Obi-Wan said shortly. "Jaina has recovered enough that she can leave the medcentre for a few hours at a time. She also says that she is ready to talk about what happened to her when she was imprisoned. A lot has happened since she was captured and we left to rescue her. A lot is still happening."

"Why are you so stressed, Master?" Anakin asked. "You're not acting like yourself."

Obi-Wan was quiet for a moment. "I've just come from Bail. Breha's trial is complete. She is to be executed for high treason in ten days."

Anakin froze. _"What?!"_

Obi-Wan nodded and continued walking. Anakin followed, swearing under his breath.

In the flash of events that had occurred since their escape from Alderaan, Anakin had completely forgotten that Breha had risked her life to help get them out of the Alderaanian Palace alive. She had been carted off to Coruscant for letting them escape, and knowing Palpatine, she was going to be made an example of. Her execution would prove that no one, even royalty, was safe from Palpatine if they chose to go against the Emperor.

With a sick feeling in his stomach, Anakin remained quiet for the rest of the walk to the debriefing room.

He and Obi-Wan were the last to arrive. Jaina, now dressed in a loose-fitting white gown, was curled up on a large, white couch, leaning against several pillows. Sitting next to her, one arm gently around her shoulders, was Kyp. Padmé had managed to convince him to leave Jaina's side long enough to get some proper rest and he, too, had cleaned up and was dressed in fresh clothing. Padmé was sitting with Bail on the opposite side of the room. Bail's eyes were red and he was trembling with anger. Padmé's eyes, usually filled with warmth, were stone cold when she looked round to see who had entered. Yoda occupied a small seat beside Kyp and Jaina's couch. He was already gnawing on the end of his gimer stick. Sheltay, R2-D2 and C-3PO were with the younglings and the twins elsewhere in the complex.

As Anakin and Obi-Wan took their seats, Anakin had to appreciate the fact that there was no better place to discuss such serious matters than here, in Coral City. The Mon Calamarian architecture provided solace for the wounded. The room they occupied was located just below the surface of the ocean. Sea-green water and bubbles lapped against the clear, transparisteel windows. Sunlight from above shone through the surface, helping to create moving golden-green patterns on the floor and walls of the room inside.

They sat there in silence for a long time. It seemed almost impossible that they had all been gathered together in the same room at last, after such a long time… after so much had happened. Anakin glanced at Bail. The Alderaanian Senator's face had gone pale and stony. Padmé was watching him, her expression full of concern.

"Has come, the time has," Yoda said slowly, removing the gimer stick from his mouth, "to tell a story two of you know but the rest do not."

Anakin threw an annoyed look at the Jedi Master. "I thought we were de-briefing, not sharing stories!" he said hotly.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said, "listen to what Master Yoda has to say. It may be one of the most important pieces of information you ever hear."

"So, you already know what he's going to say," Anakin said.

"Partially," Obi-Wan said. "Padmé, too. But the rest of you need to know, and you need to know now."

"But—"

Anakin fell silent at the look Padmé shot him. He turned to Yoda. The Jedi Master had thumped the bottom of his gimer stick on the floor, indicating that he was going to begin.

The group listened in rapt silence as Yoda revealed the information he had given Obi-Wan and Padmé several days earlier. Anakin could hardly conceal the shock and horror he felt at learning that they had yet another time traveller in their midst that none of them had known about – and worse yet, there was nothing he could suggest they do for Jaina, even though he had met the inventor of the liquid now infecting her.

"_Why_ didn't you tell us earlier, Master?" Anakin spluttered, furious. It was such a key piece of information. He couldn't believe that Yoda had hidden it for all these long years, especially now when he could have helped.

Or could he have helped? A thought struck Anakin. Even if he had time travelled in the past, perhaps there was actually nothing Yoda could do to stop Palpatine's own time travelling… or anything to that effect. Time traveller or not, perhaps the only stance in the whole business Yoda could take was the passive one he had taken.

_No… there must have been something else he could have done!_

"You could have helped in some way, Master!" Anakin said angrily. "And Jaina… what about her? Are you going to let her dissolve into the Force while you continue your 'observations', is that the plan?"

"Mistaken, perhaps, I was to keep this from you for so long," Yoda said. "However, made, my choices were, for sound reasons. Fragile, the universe is. Play with the powers of time, I no longer can, nor would I, if given the choice I were." He butted his gimer stick on the floor again. "Nothing for Jaina can I do, there is. For that, sorry I am. But one goal above all others, we have. Tangled, the threads of this time are. Do everything in our power, we must, to untangle them, but tread carefully we must."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Once again, you're speaking in riddles." His eyes flashed angrily. "What do you _mean?"_

"Palpatine's gone back and forth between the past, future and present so many times that the universe has become stretched," Kyp said suddenly. "That's my understanding of it. To put things right… he has to be stopped."

"Urgh!" Anakin exclaimed. "Which we were going to do anyway!"

"Listen, you do not!" Yoda interrupted. For the first time ever, Yoda seemed frustrated. "Listen to none but your own words, do you, Anakin Skywalker! Beyond simple means of killing, Palpatine is. Stab him with a lightsaber, survive he will! Another path, taken it must be!"

Realization began to dawn on Anakin. "Is that what you mean?" he asked quietly. "Because Palpatine has time travelled so many times, he's… _protected_ from normal death?"

Yoda closed his eyes. "Meditated one this, I have. Make sense, it does. Why have you not been able to defeat Sidious? Represent the light, do you, Anakin. Represent the dark, does Palpatine. Opposites of the Force. Defeat him by normal means, you cannot."

Anakin shivered. "Then what must I do?" he said flatly. "Sidious is practically _immortal_ now, by the sounds of it—"

"Hang on," Kyp interrupted. "When Jaina and I were sent back in time, Augustine said that Anakin was the only one who could defeat Sidious and that he _must_ defeat Sidious. Anakin has tried and failed to do so twice. If Sidious can't be killed by a lightsaber blow—"

"Misunderstand, you do!" Yoda interrupted. He sighed, shaking his head and began to gnaw on his gimer stick again. "Think _beyond_ the material, if you will! Beyond what you have been taught! Find a way, we must! Find a way, Anakin must!"

Anakin, Kyp and Obi-Wan traded bewildered looks. Jaina had closed her eyes again; she did not seem perturbed by the revelation that Yoda had previously time travelled and even less so at the news that there was nothing he could do for her. In fact, it was almost as if she had fallen asleep against the pillows she was leaning on, lost in thought.

"I've been having a dream," Anakin said after a moment.

"A premonition?" Yoda enquired.

Obi-Wan groaned. "Here we go again…"

"Lightly, we do not take Anakin's dreams!" Yoda said. "Of great importance, they may be, to finding the key to Sidious' defeat."

Anakin swallowed. Twice in his experience had images from his dreams stepped into reality. The first time had ended with the foreseen death of his mother and his unforeseen murder of an entire tribe of Sandpeople and a brush with the dark side. The second time, he had foreseen Jaina lying crushed and broken in the jungle of Dagobah. Yet as he had mistaken her for Padmé at the time of his dreams, he had forgotten the scene until it resurfaced, in the flesh, months later…

"The problem with dreams," Anakin said slowly, "is what to define as real and what as unreal."

As he spoke, the cave from his recurring dream swam before his eyes. He saw the violet eyes flash at him before he brought himself back to the present.

"What was in this dream, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I'm walking, except the landscape keeps changing around me," Anakin explained. "I have no idea where I'm going, except that I have to reach my destination. At one point, I'm in a forest and I keep seeing people that are just out of sight. They're women, dressed in black and they have all this tribal jewellery – teeth and tusks and that kind of thing – on. And there's four moons in the sky—"

"Nightsisters," Jaina said suddenly.

"What?" Anakin said, turning to her.

Jaina opened her eyes and pushed herself into an upright position. There was a dark look on her face. "I think you're talking about Nightsisters. They normally dress in black. They're powerful Force-users from the planet Dathomir. It has four moons."

"There are lots of planets with four moons and forests, Jaina," Kyp said reasonably.

Jaina shook her head. "I'm _sure_ Anakin's dreaming about Dathomir. Maybe there's something there that he needs to see, or hear… or do."

Everyone looked at her blankly.

"Why are you all looking at me?" she snapped. "He's the one with the dreams!"

She pointed at Anakin, who continued describing what he had seen.

"The landscapes keep changing – I go through everything from wastelands to jungles – but I always end up coming back to the same forest. There's a cave. It's always the same cave. It has… um… carvings on it." Anakin suddenly became aware that Obi-Wan and Jaina were listening to him with rapt attention. Their expressions were like stone. He swallowed and continued to speak. "It's all the same carving, over and over again: a creature that looks like a Duinuogwuin and a thorned flower."

Jaina breathed in sharply and whispered something that no one could hear. Anakin saw her trade significant looks with Obi-Wan.

"There's always flower petals all over the ground of the cave entrance. They're always withered. Each time, I try to go into the cave, but I never get there because I always wake up."

"Shanthral," Obi-Wan murmured.

"What?"

"You're dreaming of the cave on Shanthral," Jaina said. "It's where Obi-Wan and I ended up during our mission there, to see what was hunting and killing the Shanthrai. Another thing." She took a breath. "Those carvings on the cave walls are identical to the one on the pillar that centered the forces used to bring me and Kyp to this time."

They all shared bewildered looks.

"Connected, both places are, it would seem," Yoda mused.

Anakin frowned. "But why would I dream of that?"

"We found a Dark Lord of the Sith there," Obi-Wan said. "Someone who was _not_ Palpatine."

"How do you know? Sidious is a time traveller, he could have –"

"No. Palpatine was in Coruscant, dealing with being Chancellor and trying to manipulate you, Anakin," Jaina said. "There can't be two of the same person in one timeframe, Augustine told us that. It becomes extremely dangerous for the threads that hold the universe together. I doubt Palpatine would risk the universe collapsing on itself. He loves it too much."

"So, let me get this straight: there's a rogue Sith Lord running around killing Shanthrai and he has something to do with that cave?" Anakin snorted. It sounded ridiculous.

However, he had learned long ago that even the most ridiculous things had an unfortunate habit of being true.

"On Corellia," Yoda said, "found the body of a young Shanthra, Padawan Malreaux and I did. Surround the place, a disturbance in the Force did. This, we also found."

Yoda withdrew a datapad from a pocket in his robes and placed it on the stool in front of his chair. Anakin reached out and picked it up. Once he activated it, a small projection appeared in the space before him. A woman with fair hair and sharp features appeared.

"_Hello, again, A'Sharad."_ Her voice was ice-cold. _"I suspect you have gone through much to get to this place. Congratulations are in order for one who has come so far and unravelled so much of the mystery. I hope you have found the key, otherwise there is nothing more I can say until you do."_

The message complete, the projection faded.

"Mystery is right," he said, disgruntled. "I have no idea what that was all about. A'Sharad? As in A'Sharad Hett? He disappeared a long time ago, no one knows what happened to him." He leaned back in his seat, tapping the datapad on his knee.

Jaina had gone rigid.

"What is it?" Kyp asked quickly.

"I knew an A'Sharad," she said quietly. "He had the cell next to me when I was…" She shook herself. "We talked, several times. He helped keep me sane. He helped me fight the darkness."

"A'Sharad?" Anakin asked, bewildered. _"A'Sharad Hett?"_

Jaina nodded. "Whatever this message is, I'm not sure if it's connected to him or not. He was taken from his cell several days… or perhaps it was weeks… before you came to rescue me. One day I stopped hearing from him. He was gone. Nothing but blackness." She took a deep breath. "I don't know whether they killed him or took him for questioning, but he never came back."

Anakin was looking aghast. "A'Sharad disappeared months before you and Kyp arrived," he said. "We thought he was dead."

"He was in Kuduran all that time. Tortured by Palpatine."

They fell silent again. Anakin swore quietly under his breath.

"So what's a message for him doing on Corellia with the body of a dead Shanthrai?" Anakin muttered.

"More important than the _why_, perhaps, is the _how,"_ Obi-Wan said, running a hand through his hair. "How did the body of a Shanthrai end up in Corellia in the first place? Shanthral does not have much contact with the Galaxy beyond. It seems highly unlikely that someone would transport one of their dead to Corellia, of all places."

"Would it have something to do with Palpatine? If A'Sharad was in Kuduran with Jaina—"

"I don't think this has anything to do with Palpatine," Jaina said quietly. "I think this has everything to do with that Sith Lord Obi-Wan and I met on Shanthral. He could control time, too, you know. He was very powerful."

"So is the woman in the message working alongside that Sith Lord?" Obi-Wan asked.

"What does it matter?" Bail said sharply.

They all turned to him. It was his first time speaking since the meeting began. He rose to his feet, shaking.

"What good does it do, chasing down Sith Lords we don't even know who are real and trying to decipher messages in datapads? Where will it lead us? The Galaxy is in need of us right here, right _now._ Think of physical people in front of your eyes, every day, who are suffering – every day – at the hands of Palpatine's regime! These are who we should be trying to help! These are who we should be fighting for!"

"And we are!" Anakin rebutted. "We're trying, Bail, but this is important, too—!"

"Importance!" Bail shouted. "What is the importance of a few tantalizing hints and a 'disturbance' in the Force? It could mean everything to you, but not the rest of the Galaxy! My wife is to be executed and do I hear a word from you lot about planning a rescue mission? No! You were all for rescuing Jaina, but will you go and rescue Breha? No!" He was visibly shaking now. "SHE RISKED HER LIFE FOR YOU!" he yelled. "TO LET YOU ESCAPE! AND WHAT DO YOU? IGNORE HER COMPLETELY! YOUR SITH LORDS AND YOUR MYSTICAL FORCE ARE MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAN THE PEOPLE WHO ARE THERE HELPING YOU!"

"Bail, there is nothing we can do for Breha, not in ten days time—"

"IF IT WERE JAINA, YOU'D DAMN WELL DO IT!"

Anakin bit his tongue, preventing him from saying, _"That's a different situation!" _It was not a different situation. He knew it was not. Every life was important. Breha's life was just as precious as Jaina's. But the fact remained that they could not march into Coruscant and rescue her within ten days. An awful, guilty feeling began to consume him as his brain told him again and again that there was, unfortunately, nothing they could do for Breha.

Anakin stared blankly ahead as Bail yelled himself hoarse. Padmé attempted to intervene on several occasions, but he shook her off.

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR SUPERIORITY COMPLEXES! THE JEDI ARE NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT BEINGS IN THE GALAXY AND ITS HIGH TIME YOU STOP TREATING YOURSELVES AS SUCH! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!" He stopped, breathing hard. "If… if there is _one thing_ I regret," he said, nearly spitting the words out. "It was _ever_ helping you to escape from Coruscant and making myself an outlaw. By offering you sanctuary from the Empire, I have brought nothing but death and destruction to my family and to my people. I would have stood a better chance to fight Palpatine's regime from the inside. I chose to ally myself with you because at the time I believed it was the right thing to do. I now see that I was wrong. You continue to put the mystical priorities of the Jedi above the solid needs of the people of the Galaxy. At the moment, both goals happen to be the same – the defeat of the Emperor – but if you continue to do it your way, more innocent people will die. I cannot allow that. As such," Bail drew himself up, "I am withdrawing. I will take my ship and my crew and we will do our best to prevent the Empire from tearing the Galaxy apart even further in a way that best benefits the _people_, not the Jedi."

He turned and swept from the door. For a moment, he paused and looked back at them. "Padmé," he said, "my dear friend. I will not ask you to come with me, for then I would be responsible for tearing you from your husband and your family. However, I must plead caution with you. If they continue on the path they are on right now, it will only end worse for the people you once swore to serve. If you choose to contact me, you know how to find the _Tantive IV._ I swear to you that I will never betray your whereabouts to the Empire. I wish you the best of luck. Farewell."

With that, Bail walked out of the room, leaving stunned silence in his wake.

A horrible, wretched feeling was beginning to creep up on Anakin. The datapad in his hands fell to the floor with a _thud._ The ever-changing patterns the reflection of the sea-water created on the floor and walls of the room lost the golden glow it gained from the sunlight shooting through the water as a cloud covered the sun.

Bail had left. The polite, mild-mannered Alderaanian Senator, who had offered them so much help when they had desperately needed it, had left their group, forever.

_He's not a Jedi, he doesn't understand the scope of everything,_ one voice said in Anakin's mind.

_It doesn't matter!_ another spoke up. _We should be looking out for the Galaxy at large too, not just focusing on the matters of the Jedi. _

_The matters of the Jedi greatly affect the Galaxy at large,_ the nastier voice said.

_Shut up! Shut up! Shut UP! _

_It's not your place anyway. You don't know anything about politics, you wouldn't be any good at it. Concentrate on finding a way of defeating Palpatine. That's your job – to fight evil. To protect the innocent. Save the Galaxy. _

_But Bail's right! _

_Only from his point of view!_

Anakin let out a burst of frustration, his head in his hands. "What have we done?" he groaned.

"It will be all right," Padmé said. She was very pale and she looked close to tears. She swallowed hard and recomposed herself. "Even if he has left us forever, it is his choice. I cannot blame him. He has torn himself up over the situation with his wife for months now. But I assure you that once he does leave, he will keep to his word and not betray us. Otherwise, Breha would be executed in vain."

She stood up, addressing them all formally. "All of you are Jedi. You cannot understand how difficult it is for us who are not Jedi to focus on matters that pertain solely to the Force. I have an advantage over most, being married to Anakin. My children are Force-sensitive and I did sense its power when I still carried them. However…" Padmé took a deep breath. "To most, the Force is an unattainable, mystical thing. It has been particularly grieving for Bail to hear you all speak of Sith Lords, the light side and the dark side as if it were the most important thing in the world when all around us, the Empire is destroying homes, families and cultures across every planet within his grasp. It has been difficult for me, too. Bail was my partner in an attempt to set up an organization that would combat the Empire from the inside, an underground rebellion of sorts, but it was difficult. Very difficult. We were on the run for the most part and Palpatine was slowly destroying our contacts. Breha is not the only one who is to be executed. Mon Mothma awaits her own trial. Many other Senators, many of them part of the Delegation of 2000, colleagues of mine whom Palpatine knows I would try to reach out to for aid.

"When we were on Corellia, we made contact with Garm Bel Iblis and Shyla Merricope. They have been establishing an underground resistance on Corellia and its surrounding planets. They will give us aid when we need it – and right now, we need them to continue giving hope and support to those whose lives are being destroyed. It will be difficult. Already, Palpatine has frightened enough people to prevent them from speaking out against his ways of governing. However, while that shows his power and domination, he cannot control the populace forever. Rally enough people and a despised government can and _will_ fall, whether the leader is dead or not. This holds true for the Empire. I am sure Bail will try to contact Merricope and Bel Iblis as soon as he gets a chance, and perhaps a few others.

"What I mean by all this," Padmé continued, keeping her head held high, "is that for all the chasing of clues, we must put in an equal effort to creating an underground resistance. Taking out Palpatine will not completely destabilize his government. My suggestion is that whenever there is a chance, we split off. I will attempt to continue to rally people and stay in contact with Bail and the Corellians. The rest of you can search for a means to destroy Sith Lords to your hearts' content." She sat down again and folded her hands.

Anakin stared at his wife. He had never been on the receiving end of one of her diplomatic messages before. He found himself shaking. It was a terrible thing to behold. Anakin now truly understood why Padmé had been so popular – yet feared and hated by other senators. She spoke with such a vibrant truth focused on what was best for the Galaxy. She saw the larger picture. Try though he might, Anakin knew that his mind would always be clouded by his Jedi training and, he shamefully admitted, his own desires. He saw Sith Lords as the top menace before he saw governments. He had never before been able to see the Galaxy the way Padmé did.

Now he had an inkling how to do so – and it made him feel awful and guilty that he had never considered these kinds of things before.

_All those times she's told you that you need to stop thinking with your lightsaber ignited, she's been right. She might have laughed at "aggressive negotiations", but she's had her point all along._

The group was silent for a long time. Anakin knew that there was an uneasiness about bringing the topic back to the datapad's message and the stray Sith Lord after both Bail's outbursts and Padmé's speech.

Jaina was the one who called an end to the meeting.

"I think the medics would like me to return to my room now," she said. "They'll want to be checking my bacta patches." She pointed to the datapad on the floor. "Can I have that?" she asked.

Anakin nodded. As he handed it over to her, his eyes caught sight of a mark on the back. He paused and flipped it over. It was a small, heptagonal indent with strange markings on the inside. They made some sort of shape, but Anakin couldn't quite figure it out. It was a pretty strange manufacture logo. Losing interest, he passed the datapad to Jaina.

"Thanks." Jaina slowly pushed herself off the couch and into a standing position. Partially leaning on Kyp, she made her way towards the door and the two Jedi left.

Anakin caught Padmé's eye. She returned his gaze, but rather icily. Pursing her lips, she stood up and also left the room. Anakin had a feeling that she had gone to give Bail a proper farewell. Anakin thought briefly about going with her, but then he wasn't sure if Bail would ever like to see him face-to-face again.

Anakin threw himself back down on his chair, feeling utterly defeated.


	57. The Sith Lord Enigma

**CHAPTER LVII**

**The Sith Lord Enigma**

Whether it was what had transpired between Bail and Padmé and the Jedi, or if it had been all the information flooding him about Yoda and time travel, or a combination of both, Anakin slept badly that night. His dreams had become an even more confusing tangle of images, resulting in his dream self stumbling through barren wasteland towards a massive temple, running across the burnt land of a fiery, volcanic planet, and getting lost in a great, earthen maze with the sun beating unrelentingly on his back while he searched desperately for water – all at the same time. Again, it seemed as though blood was thundering ferociously in his ears as he heard what was like a pounding heartbeat and two echoes of it… and wherever his dream self went, the violet eyes seemed to follow, watching his every move.

Anakin woke several hours before dawn and rolled out of bed, finally tired of repeatedly waking up from his dreams and being unable to go back to a peaceful sleep. Some exhausted part of his brain shouted that perhaps he should try meditating for a while, but another part seemed reluctant to do anything that screamed "Jedi!" after what had been said the day before. Shaking thoughts of fiery fields and violet eyes from his mind, Anakin dressed and left his sleeping wife and children in the bedroom.

There was only one thing that could keep his mind off of things: finishing Jaina's mechanical arm. Heading to his work station, Anakin flicked on the lights manually and retrieved his tools. Sitting down at the table, he resumed work on the half-completed project.

"Master Ani?" an inquisitive voice spoke from the shadows.

Anakin nearly jumped a foot in the air. "Threepio!" he shouted indignantly. "Don't scare me like that!"

C-3PO clanked into view. "I'm terrible sorry, Master Anakin. I was merely curious as to what you were up to at a time like this. Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Can't sleep," Anakin replied off-handedly. "So I'm working. Big deal. Aren't you supposed to be watching the younglings?"

Watching the younglings had been a job given to the droids and Scout and Whie while Sheltay had been occupied with the twins. They would now have to figure out a different arrangement, as Sheltay had left the previous evening with Bail, Captain Antilles and the crew of the _Tantive IV._ Where they were headed, no one knew. Anakin hoped that they would survive long enough without being caught by the Empire for Bail to put some of his plans into action – or reach someone who could help him with those plans.

"Mistress Scout said that I'm a rusty, golden garbage dump not suited to run after children. I'm afraid I must agree with her in some respect, Master Anakin. I am _not _very good at running after children. Most of the time they try to trip me up so I fall over, or they throw balls at me and see how many they can get to bounce off my poor old gears." 3PO sounded very flustered as he related this story. "I am not, however, a rusty, golden garbage dump! Am I?" He sounded like he desperately needed reassurance.

Anakin rolled his eyes. "You're not," he said in what he hoped 3PO would understand as an encouraging tone.

"Thank you, sir!"

He sounded elated.

"Mistress Scout said that Mistress Padmé might find another use for me," 3PO continued, "so I came back here. Unfortunately Mistress Padmé told me to shut up and go back to my job when I asked her about it. I don't know what to do now! I'm so confused."

Anakin sighed. _Poor Threepio,_ he thought. _He's perpetually confused. Maybe I really should give him that update I've been meaning to get for him for a while. _

"Don't worry about it, Threepio," he said, rubbing a hand over his face as he tried to concentrate on his work. "You can stay down here for a bit until we get things sorted out. Just try to be quiet, I'm trying to work."

"Of course, sir! Thank you, sir! I can be very quiet, sir, if I'm asked to. In fact, I can be completely and utterly silent when needed; in some cultures that shows respect, you see—"

"How about you start being quiet right _now,"_ Anakin said irritably.

"Oh, right. Of course, sir. I shall start that immediately—"

"Threepio?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Shut up."

"Shutting up, sir."

By the time Padmé had risen, gotten dressed and made breakfast, Anakin was putting the finishing touches on the mechanical arm. He had worked for several hours straight, enjoying the silence and letting the work consume his mind so that his thoughts would not veer in a direction he did not want them to go. The subject of Bail leaving brought fresh waves of anger and guilt upon him whenever he thought of it.

"Anakin, come and eat something."

"I'm busy."

"Anakin, you should eat."

"I'm _busy."_

"Anakin!"

"Do you want Jaina to have an arm or not?" he snapped.

Padmé's eyes flashed at him irritably. Their gaze met and suddenly her expression softened.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

"I'm sorry, too," he said.

Padmé brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "He was a good friend."

"I know." Anakin put his tools down and went to wash his hands. "I'll come eat now," he said, obliging to Padmé's wishes. Once finished, he returned to work and continued putting the finishing touches on the prosthetic until he got a comm from Obi-Wan telling him and Padmé that they were recovering to continue their discussion from yesterday.

Padmé left the twins in the care of Scout and Whie and the droids. A respectable old Mon Cal couple agreed to keep an eye out for them and the younglings while the meeting went on.

Once again, they greeted each other with silence. However, they were all aware of the cause of this silence as they were all still shaken by Bail's departure the day before.

It was Jaina who began the conversation this time.

"I've been thinking about the Sith Lord we met on Shanthral," she said. "I have no idea whether or not he is connected to the datapad and its message, but I'm pretty sure we don't have enough clues to figure out how it fits into the puzzle yet."

"Or how A'Sharad fits into it," Obi-Wan added quietly.

"What I would like to know," Jaina continued, "is who travelled with you in the beginning, Master Yoda? What was his name?"

Yoda's ears twitched.

"Master, I think it is imperative that we know."

"Young and foolish, I was," Yoda said after a moment. "Inquisitive about the nature of the Force. In my travels, encountered a Muun who, like I, was interested in all aspects of the Force. Heh. Foolhardy, I was. Put faith and trust into him, I did, to teach me so I would learn. When knew him, did I, he was called Sebast Velik."

Something in Jaina's expression fell, but she continued to listen with rapt attention. Anakin listened in wonder as Yoda's story unfolded. The Jedi Master had only just been Knighted when he had gained permission to go on an investigative mission to learn more about the powers of the Force. Yoda believed at the time that to have a well-balanced knowledge, one must see how the Sith viewed the Force, though one must never use their powers.

His journey took him to Korriban, the ancient homeworld of the Sith. The planet was engrained with the power of the dark side, a power that was still fresh as it had only been just over a century since Darth Bane, one of the most terrible Sith Lords of the era, had studied there. On the wastelands of Korriban, Yoda met a young Sebast Velik, who, while never claiming to be a Jedi, was in search for the deeper secrets of the Force.

The two banded together, thirsty for knowledge. It did not take Yoda long to discover that Velik was a great teacher and his knowledge of the Force was already deep. Yoda turned to him for guidance. As the two bonded in friendship, Velik decided to impart Yoda with his greatest secret of all: that the power to control time existed and that Velik was not, in fact, from this age or era. He was from the future and he had travelled back in time to discover more about the ancient history of the Force.

Velik, as it turned out, was not as young as he looked. He had been playing with the powers of time for many years, attempting to figure out the more intricate delicacies of the great, yet terrible, force. He had discovered the secret to controlling it by accident. He would not offer to show Yoda the secret until he knew he could trust him completely. With this tantalizing offer before him, Yoda accepted Velik's offer to journey through time with him.

The Muun was obsessed with the Force. He delighted in discovery its mysteries, pursuing the mystical, hidden secrets to the farthest reaches until he understood them completely – or enough to control and command them. He also delighted in teaching. Before long, Yoda knew he had become an apprentice once more as Velik began to act more and more like a Master. They continued to travel through time with the prospect of learning as much as they could, but soon Yoda began to grow suspicious of Velik. He was not using his great powers for good. He was using them to continue learning and to force his knowledge on others, bending them to his will and his ideals. Velik believed that he was gaining Yoda's trust, but in fact he was losing it. Velik was hardened by his long years of almost nothing but study. He had very little contact with others in situations outside his search for greater knowledge and greater power. He did not believe in friendships and he never had; he had merely convinced Yoda that he and the Jedi were friends, but that had merely been an illusion. As a result, Velik had grown cruel over the long years and before long he began searching for a way to make everyone believe that his beliefs were correct, as he knew more about the Force than anyone else, living or dead. Those who did not follow his beliefs were struck down.

Yoda, unable to go up against the man he had called a friend, wished to depart and return to his own home. However, he still did not know the secret of time travel and could not leave Velik until he was returned to his own timeframe. Finally, he managed to convince the Muun to bring him back. The two arrived on Dagobah. There, Yoda finally confronted Velik about his beliefs and his ideals. Surprised by this sudden betrayal, Velik attacked Yoda and the two began a ferocious duel. In the end, Velik discovered that he was losing and unleashed the full power of the dark side to open a portal and escape. The resulting whirlwind of power forever tainted the area.

"And that was how the cave was created," Jaina said quietly, her voice tight.

Yoda nodded. "Indeed. All the energies of time, ripping one, small pinprick on Dagobah apart. Survive, the land could not. Saturated with the dark side, it became. Influenced by the energies of time, prophetic powers the cave has, also. See disguised truths, see disguised lies within, you will. A dangerous part of the Galaxy, that cave is."

"Hang on," Anakin said. "Dagobah. We were there—"

"When I was captured, yes," Jaina said. "I had visited the cave. It's a powerful place."

"Does Palpatine know where it came from, then?" Anakin wondered.

"That I do not know," Yoda said. "Perhaps he knows. Perhaps he does not." Yoda fell silent for a moment before he continued. "Proud and boastful, Velik was. A great teacher, he was, as he desired to never let his knowledge die. Gained a new apprentice to continue to teach. Heh. So great his thirst for knew knowledge was, eventually Velik left behind time travel and remained in one era. Heh. There, trouble began. Studied midichlorians, did he, until influence and control them he could. Life and death… his to command."

"Wait." Something was resounding in the depths of Anakin's memory. A conversation he had had with a certain Chancellor during a certain opera… Strangely, it registered in him that the particular opera had been Mon Calamarian in origin. It seemed so long ago now.

The memory floated up, the words as clear as if they had only been spoken yesterday.

"_Once he had gained this ultimate power, he might as well have been a god. He had nothing to fear save losing it. That is why the tale reminded me of the Jedi Council."_

"_But what _happened _to him? If he could control life and death, then—"_

"_Darth Plagueis made one mistake. To safeguard his power's existence, he taught the path toward it to his apprentice."_

"_And?"_

"_His apprentice killed him in his sleep. Plagueis never saw it coming. The irony… he could save anyone in the Galaxy from death – anyone except himself."_

"_What about his apprentice?"_

"_Oh… _him. _He went on to become the greatest Dark Lord of the Sith the Galaxy has ever known."_

Anakin was suddenly on his feet. Blood was pounding in his ears. Something had just clicked in his mind that he had never thought of before. Anakin had never zeroed in on the smug way Palpatine had related the story. Now as he thought back, flipping to months past, he recalled the way Palpatine had laughed when Anakin had inquired about the apprentice. What had happened to the apprentice?

_He went on to become the greatest Dark Lord of the Sith the Galaxy has ever known. _

Palpatine. Plagueis. Darth Sidious was, without a doubt, Darth Plagueis' apprentice. Sebast Velik, according to Yoda, was obsessed with studying the Force. If anyone knew its secrets, he did. So did Plagueis. Was it too much to assume that if Plagueis knew how to control life and death, he also knew the powers of time? According to Yoda, there were very few who could control time… very few indeed. And Palpatine, he was one of them. Plagueis was boastful and proud, he passed all of his knowledge on to his apprentice. That was how Sidious had learned.

"Velik was Darth Plagueis."

Yoda's ears twitched.

"Master Yoda, I know I'm right," Anakin said. "Velik _was_ Plagueis. That's how Sidious knows everything. He learned from the greatest teacher the Galaxy has ever seen."

Yoda's ears twitched again and he nodded. "Yes," he said heavily. "True, that is."

"But Plagueis is dead," Anakin said. He had a sinking feeling. He sat down again. "Palpatine told me so. He murdered him in is sleep."

"What were you going to suggest, Anakin?" Jaina asked. "That Plagueis was the Sith Lord Obi-Wan and I encountered?"

"Yeah," Anakin said, running a hand through his hair. He paused for a moment. "Hang on, that could still be true! If you two met an _old_ version of Plagueis…" His voice faded away. "This is making my head hurt," he groaned.

"We may have a lead on whom the mystery Sith Lord is," Obi-Wan said, "but our first and foremost concern is still Palpatine."

"Yes, but I just want to make sure that we won't have any other Sith Lords come blundering in making a mess of things!" Anakin retorted hotly.

Jaina shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Speaking of Sith Lords," she said.

"Oh, now what?" Anakin said, irritable.

"When I was in Kuduran I met Sidious' new apprentice."

"What?!"

Jaina took a deep breath. "His name is Darth Krayt. He was in charge of my… of my torture when Palpatine wasn't there."

"_Sithspit!" _Anakin hissed. "Where is he now? Please tell me he was still on Kuduran when the place got blown up – why are you shaking your head?"

"Because he left before you got there. He told me so himself; he came to taunt me one last time. Didn't really work, the effect was wearing off a bit. Palpatine had given him a mission or something, I expect."

"Great," Anakin grumbled. "So we have a total of three Sith Lords on the loose and we have no idea where any of them are. Wonderful." He sighed and leaned back in his seat. "My head is _really_ starting to hurt now."

"Krayt can time travel, too."

Anakin stared at her. The room fell silent.

"A'Sharad told me," Jaina added quietly.

"That son of a Hutt," Anakin swore. "He keeps piling obstacles up in front of us, doesn't he? If Palpatine has an apprentice who can time travel, then that's just another one we have to watch out for."

"We may have to track Krayt down as well," Obi-Wan said. "He could prove a liability if we don't."

"It's more likely that he'll come to _us,"_ Jaina said darkly. "Maybe that's what Palpatine sent him to do… track us down, split us up."

It was as if the air in the room had become very cold.

"Enough of the Sith Lords for the moment," Kyp said. There was a dark look in his expression now. "I have a question. Master Yoda, have you ever heard of or have you met a man called Professor Augustine? Back in the beginning, when Jaina and I first arrived here, it seemed as though you might have when I mentioned his name. I think now would be a good time to know."

Yoda gnawed on the edge of his gimer stick for a moment and then set it aside. "Believed time travel was done, when left Velik I did. But beyond the names of Velik and Plagueis, there came the name of a professor. Who he was, or where came he… Mystery, it was. But for those searching the secrets of time, Augustine was the name to look for, if deep enough you searched. Familiar with the name, am I. Met him… I did not. Perhaps you and Jaina are the first."

"So he remains the mystery man," Kyp said tiredly.

"Perhaps _he's_ the mystery Sith Lord, then, if Plagueis is not," Anakin grunted.

"Unlikely, since this professor was the one who sent Kyp and Jaina here to save you in the first place," Padmé said. "I doubt someone who was trying to save the Galaxy from utter destruction would go on try to commit genocide." It was her first time speaking since the meeting began. She had been taking everything in calmly and coolly, trying her best to understand forces that had never been fully explained to her. Anakin sent her an appreciative smile.

The group fell silent again for a long while. There was a large amount of information to take in, especially concerning Yoda. Anakin felt as if everything he had known about the Jedi Master had been turned on his head. For his entire life, Yoda had been the wise, rule-abiding, Jedi Philosophy-preaching Jedi Master who would occasionally whack you around the shins with his gimer stick. To imagine him as a curious, rambunctious youth, adventuring through time with a soon-to-be Sith Lord was either comical or very, very twisted.

Except it was true.

"There's something else you should know," Jaina said quietly. "It's about something Palpatine discovered and he showed them to me while I was imprisoned." She had gone very pale again. It was almost as if she did not want to speak the words she was speaking.

Kyp noticed her expression. "Jaina, you don't have to say anything if you don't—"

"I _know_, Kyp," she said irritably. "But I'm going to say it, because the longer I hide from it, the harder it's going to be. You of all people should know that." She gave him a significant look.

He shrugged apologetically.

"Palpatine has a force field that is technology from the future, like Delik-66," she said, speaking slowly. "He used it to subdue me several times. If you are not suspended in the force field for long enough, the moment you are released, you are paralyzed. This is not the only thing he had."

"Please, no more crazy stuff from the future," Anakin groaned. The fact that Palpatine was using his time travelling capabilities to bring back weapons of the likes they had never seen was not entirely surprising. In fact, it was exactly the sort of thing Palpatine would do – he was merely using his resources wisely.

"Have you ever heard of something called the Orbs of Kahran?" Jaina said.

"Heh." Yoda banged his gimer stick on the floor again. "Heard of them, I have. Strange objects, they are. Many unknown powers are hidden within them. Not many can use them… work for anyone, they will not."

"I used one."

Yoda's ear twitched. "Used one, did you?"

Jaina nodded.

"I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, Jaina," Obi-Wan said. "The Orbs of Kahran are very obscure artefacts from Lok. They could possibly do… well, anything. They say that only Force-sensitives can use them correctly—"

"That was what Palpatine told me," Jaina said. She paused for moment and her expression hardened. She looked as though she was remembering something quite unpleasant. "He said that the power held within the orbs could only be tapped into by a _dahre._ There hasn't been a _dahre_ for millennia – until now."

"You?" Obi-Wan asked.

Jaina nodded.

"Could _dahre_ mean time traveller, then?" Anakin asked.

"Well, then, why would Palpatine have shown the orbs to Jaina?" Kyp said. "If a _dahre_ was a Force-sensitive, then he could have used them himself."

"Unless he wanted to see that he wasn't the only one who could use them!" Anakin shot back.

"It doesn't make sense!" Kyp said heatedly. "First Palpatine imprisons her, and then he tries experimenting on her—"

"Exactly! Could the Orbs of Klan, or whatever they're called, just have been another experiment?"

"Shut up, you two," Jaina said irritably. "Experiment or no experiment, it doesn't matter. I'm sure Palpatine can't use them. As far as I know, I may be the only one who can. Not that it matters – I smashed the whole lot."

"Well, then…" Obi-Wan had a confused look on his face. "What did you _do?_ Did the orbs do anything at all? Once opened, they're powers are supposed to be released—"

"Visions," Jaina interrupted. "They gave me a whole load of very confusing, unhelpful visions." She sat back in her chair, looking slightly disgusted. "You know what? Forget the whole thing. Forget I mentioned it. It probably isn't important – just Palpatine trying to add more confusion on to what's already happening to me. He's trying to trip us up even further."

"Jaina, I don't think we should take this lightly—"

"And we're supposed to be figuring out how to stop Palpatine!" she said hotly. "So stop worrying about me, I'm not going to drop dead this very minute. I have no intention of dying, no matter what the Delik-66 is up to. If we need to do anything right now, it's planning a way to stop Palpatine, not worrying about what visions those stupid orbs gave me when I was locked up and half-insane!"

They did not pursue the topic any further after this outburst; Anakin, however, still had a feeling that there was much more to this orb business than Jaina was letting on.

The door buzzed and slid open.

"Oh!"

Anakin looked round. C-3PO had entered, carrying a large tray with several mugs full of steaming liquid. Anakin stared at him.

"Threepio, what are you doing?" he demanded.

"I… I… I…"

The protocol droid was stuttering. "I was wondering if any of you would like to try some Calamarian C-tea?" He sounded almost hopeful.

"Threepio," Padmé said gently, "aren't you supposed to be helping look after the children?"

"Oh… yes, Mistress Padmé, but Mistress Scout told me—"

Anakin groaned. "Threepio, you listen to _us_ before you listen to Scout, okay? Don't believe a word she says."

"A-all right, sir. If you say so."

"I do say so."

Padmé stood up and walked across the room. She took the tray from him. "Now go back up and help out," she said. "Thank you for the tea."

"Oh, you're welcome, Mistress Padmé!"

"Go!"

C-3PO turned and left the room. Padmé set the tray down on the table in a corner of the room and picked up one of the steaming mugs. She sat back down on her seat and sipped the tea, a strange expression on her face.

No one else went to retrieve any tea.

"All right," Obi-Wan said, returning to the discussion. He paused, resting his hands on his knees. "Palpatine. Clearly, Sidious' main motive for capturing Jaina in the first place, besides all the experimental science that happened within Kuduran, was to prevent her and Anakin from working together to bring him down. Having two powerful Skywalkers on the same team makes things complicated for him. Perhaps he feels that if you two are united in battle, there is no way for him to escape."

"How do you come to that?" Anakin asked bluntly.

"Well, you two have never fought him together, have you? I get the feeling that Palpatine fears Jaina. So far, he has made sure that the Chosen One and his granddaughter have not been able to face him at the same time." Obi-Wan paused for a moment, looking around at them all. "With the destruction of Kuduran, Palpatine is no doubt back in Coruscant and is directing things from there. Our main question is how do we get to him when Coruscant is impenetrable?"

"We'll have to end up at Coruscant eventually," Kyp said. "Palpatine knows that wherever he is, we'll come to him. He has the upper hand there. I'm sure he'll be expecting us to stay on the Outer-Rim until we are ready to fight him – which could be quite some time – as it will be dangerous for us to go into systems that are within the Empire's grasp."

"He will be trying to find us, too," Padmé added. "He'll be searching all the likely places in the Outer-Rim. For that reason, we cannot impose on the people of Coral City for much longer, lest we place them in danger as well."

"So, do we disguise ourselves, take a new ship and head off to Coruscant now, when Palpatine is least expecting it?"

"No," Anakin said suddenly. "Not yet." They all looked at him, and he could feel himself flushing. They could plan all they wanted as to how to get to the Emperor, but Anakin knew – as they all should know – that it all came down to him when the actual fight began. A feeling had been growing in him over the discussion. A sinking feeling.

He wasn't ready to fight Palpatine. He had been defeated twice. Yoda had mentioned how he would need to think outside the box in order to bring the Sith Lord down. If they left right now to confront Sidious, Anakin knew without a doubt that the same thing would happen again: he would be defeated.

"I'm not ready to fight him," he said. "I don't think now is the right time. I… I need to know more. Find out more. Train more, until I'm ready."

"Know more about what?" Kyp asked.

Unbidden, a memory surfaced in Anakin's mind: the power generator pit of Kuduran and the battle that had taken place there. Palpatine's voice rang in his ears as he fought to see past the swirling images of his memory – the flashing lights of the lightsaber clashes.

"_I know a secret, Anakin. A secret so devastating that it would break your heart to know The powers of time are difficult to sway, but once you do have their trust – then, well, then you can do anything you desire. I know the Jedi's _special _prophecy of the Chosen One, thought to be lost for eternity. I know its words. I know what it foretells. And you – you would be better off to never hear it."_

Anakin opened his eyes. "Palpatine told me that he knew the words to the prophecy of the Chosen One," he said slowly.

"But it's _lost,"_ Obi-Wan said, dumbfounded.

"Yes, and Palpatine's a time traveller." His fingers clenched into a fist. "I want to hear it. He said that it contained a secret so devastating that it would break my heart."

"He was just baiting you, Anakin—"

"Baiting or not, I think it's important!" Anakin interrupted heatedly.

"And if it's lost, how do you think you're going to find it?"

"I don't know!" Anakin said. "I'll find it. I have to! I… damn it." He was on his feet now, pacing rapidly around the room. Thinking back, he recalled more of Palpatine's words. The Sith Lord had not taunted him just about the prophecy of the Chosen One, but about the prophecy of the Sith'ari, too. Thinking about them at the same time brought a new thought to mind. The Chosen One was supposed to bring balance to the Force. The Sith'ari would renew the Sith, lead them into battle, destroy them, but cause them to become even stronger than ever. Were they not, in a way, the same thing, just one a representation of the light side and the other a representation of the dark side?

"The prophecy of the Sith'ari," Anakin finally said. "Palpatine believes _he's_ the Sith'ari. I have to find that one as well. The two prophecies are connected, I know it."

"That is a huge undertaking, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "Many Jedi have tried searching, but even within decades of looking, they unearthed nothing."

"Well, they weren't me!"

"By the time you find something, Palpatine could have destroyed the entire Galaxy!"

"I need answers, Obi-Wan!" Anakin said furiously. "I need to know who I am – or who I'm becoming. I'm the Chosen One, or so they say. I'm developing powers that I've never had before; you've seen them yourself, back at Desolation Alley. They're always there now. Sometimes I forget about them, but they become clearer and clearer each day. Palpatine can't be defeated like you or me. If we're going to find a way to destroy him for good, then perhaps we better start searching in the least likely of places. I _am_ going to find out what those prophecies say, otherwise I'll only be continuing along the path I'm already on and where does that lead? I've fought Sidious twice now, and both times he defeated me!" He glared at his old master. "The only question now is will you help me or not?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "Of _course_ I'll help you, Anakin; I'm just trying to help you think about this logically. If you spend all your time chasing down rag-tag prophecies that have been lost for centuries—"

"The greater Galaxy will continue to suffer," Anakin said. "I know." He looked at Padmé, who was watching him calmly. "That's why we need to split up. This is a lot more complicated than me striding into Coruscant and demanding an audience with the Emperor. Even if I manage to find the prophecies, we'll need all the help we can get reaching Palpatine. There must be other Jedi who survived Order Sixty Six. While I look for the prophecies, half of you can start there. Back at the Temple…"

Anakin paused and shuddered at the memory of the horror that had taken place that night. "When Master Tiin was dying, he told me that Cin Drallig managed to escape with some Padawans. You should start by trying to track him down. As for the rest of you, you can help Padmé try to rally an underground resistance together. He may have left us forever, but Bail can still help us from wherever he is if we take the initiative and reach out to him."

Anakin sat down, feeling exhausted.

"I'd imagine that the Jedi who survived Order Sixty Six would have taken refuge on a secluded planet and tried to blend in with the natives," Jaina said. Her eyes narrowed. "Your dream, Anakin. I'm _certain_ that you were dreaming of Dathomir. The Nightsisters may use the power of the dark side, but the Witches of Dathomir who also inhabit the planet follow the light side. It's just possible that some of the Jedi may have tried to blend in with them."

"What gives you that idea?" Anakin said tetchily. Today and the day before had been very trying.

"Just a hunch. But a good hunch. In any case, if we present our problem to the witches, I'm sure they will consider helping us," Jaina added, giving Padmé a significant look.

"Very well," Obi-Wan said. He looked exhausted. "Dathomir it is. I hope your hunch is correct, Jaina, otherwise we could be chasing mynocks for all we know."


	58. Quest

**CHAPTER LVIII**

**Quest**

In other days, Shanthral could have been considered a lush paradise. Nowadays, the web of fear that choked the beautiful landscape of forests, mountains and lakes had shattered that possibility. The moment Darth Krayt stepped foot on the planet, he could sense that it was burning with the dark side. There was power here – deep, unsettled power. A bizarre, bitter tang in the air that sent shivers up and down his spine alerted him to the cause: a time traveller had resided here not long before, and it seemed to be a rendezvous point as well. Time portals had been opened and closed so many times on this planet that they had left their mark deep within the ties of the Force that bound this place together and breathed life into it.

With his ship settled in an isolated glade, Krayt took to exploring the thick forested land by foot. As he wound his way along a river's edge, he occasionally caught glances of the primitive natives who populated the planet. They were a Force-sensitive species, and their fear blazed through the Force like a beacon whenever they caught sight of him. He knew they could sense the darkness that had become his friend and ally.

_Silly creatures,_ he thought. He was not here to threaten them. Who would waste their time on such an insignificant species? There were much more important things to do. Even though he kept this mind, he could not help but feel slightly glorified at the thought that his presence alone could inspire such fear in a sentient being. When Sidious was deposed of and he, Krayt, took control… it would feel like this. What power it would be to have an entire Galaxy bow to him. He would be as close to a god as it was possible.

It was the thought that kept him fuelled as he attempted to pinpoint the source of the dark energies on Shanthral. He had lately suffered a great disappointment. He could still sense his master. Sidious was alive and well, which meant that either Skywalker had failed and been killed, or neither Sith nor Jedi had been able to defeat another. Until he returned to the metropolitan centres of the Galaxy, Krayt would not know for certain. Out here on the distant Outer-Rim, there was no way for him to contact anyone.

Sidious' survival meant that Krayt would now have to be very careful. By now his master would no doubt have discovered his apprentice's attempted betrayal – after all, who else could have lead Skywalker so nicely right into Kuduran? Regardless of whether Skywalker had survived or not, Krayt would still have to tread carefully around his master. Sidious would not take betrayal lightly, even if said betrayal had brought him the Chosen One.

Krayt's best hope of surviving Sidious' wrath would be to carry out his mission fully. If he could bring Sidious this professor, this man called Augustine, he would be forgiven. If not… he himself would be on the run and _he _would be the one being hunted down.

Some part of his mind revelled in this idea. He was not afraid. How he would like to take on his master, to show him that he was not the snivelling, pathetic ghost of a man who had resurfaced from his brutal encounters with war and torture in the fathoms of the future. He could defeat Sidious, given the right circumstances, and do away with all this sneaking around like a bounty hunter—

No. He had to focus. He was on the safest path right now – safest for him to survive, which was what mattered. Glory could wait. Glory meant nothing if he had to die for it.

The power of the dark side seemed to leak everywhere on this planet. It was quickly becoming impossible to find the source. Attempting to keep his temper in check, Krayt continued his fruitless search for the next two days, but to no avail.

It was a cold night when he came across her. The moon blazed high in the sky, the eaves of the forest filtering its silvery glow. Krayt had strode through the thick forest vegetation, slicing low branches and underbrush out of the way with his lightsaber, and arrived in a small glade. Half of the glade seemed obscured by low, twisting branches. Standing beside them was one of the natives.

The moment he appeared in the glade, she turned and uttered a cry. Whether it was fear or surprise, Krayt did not know, nor did he care. He was caught off guard, however, by the power behind the thought she propelled into his mind, straight through the carefully implemented barriers he had placed there to protect himself from his master.

_Stay back, human demon!_

He growled in pain as the Shanthra's thoughts burst apart his shields. Falling to his knees, Krayt tried to force her mind away from his. He lost his grip on his lightsaber; it fell to the ground and deactivated.

"I'm – not – going – to – hurt – you!" he shouted through the searing pain, gasping for breath. He keeled over, landing face-down on the soft grass.

_You are no better than he who has left!_ the Shanthra's voice said, echoing in his mind. _Murderer of my people, slayer of the innocent! You reek of the darkness that haunts my home still!_

"Please—"

_No more! Dark deeds you have committed, and commit them you never will again!_

"Please, I beg you—"

_Would you show mercy to one such as me? _She raised her head. A cloud had covered the moon and she appeared as a black shadow. The large, curled horns that were a trademark characteristic of her species made her appear like a demon to him in the night's gloom. _I am Kanthrai and I am a guardian of my people. We have been tracking you ever since you landed here. We have heard your thoughts. You think of us as pathetic, primitive creatures. If we proved to be of more importance to you, then you would kill us, too. Pathetic, we are not! We are prepared this time, and you shall suffer the consequences—_

It was as if a light had flashed in his mind. Images from his past – terrible memories of the time he had slaved away under the command of the Yuuzhan Vong, tortured, forced to live within the Embrace of Pain – flew by, as realistic as the time when they had occurred. It was as if he was reliving his past. He screamed in agony, unable to escape, fighting to regain control, to resurface from the buried past—

Suddenly, it was all over. He lay on the cool grass, breathing slowly, coming back to the present moment. His body ached, but the pain was dying. He slowly rose to his feet, summoned his lightsaber and ignited it.

The Shanthra was still standing on the opposite side of the glade. Krayt raised the blade and he saw her calm face in the bloody glow. Her dark, oval eyes gleamed with an emotion he could not place.

"Tell me where Professor Augustine is," he said, "and I promise that I will not harm you. He is the one I search, not you or your kind."

_I do not know of who you speak, demon,_ her voice spat in his mind. _There was never a professor here. No teacher could partake in such atrocities._

"Then tell me where the person who was here before went!" Krayt roared, now impatient. "I know you know! I can still feel his presence here – it reverberates in the very ground of this planet! He might no longer be here, but I must trace him. If you help me, I will reward you."

_I do not need any rewards. You are the same as he. I cannot help you._

"You shall, or pay the price."

_I will not bend to the demands of a Sith. _

Suddenly, she shrieked. The sound pierced the night, causing several birds nesting in the trees to take flight in panic. Krayt could not hear. The moment her voice had sounded in his mind, he had caught hold of it and followed it back, breeching the walls protecting her. Chaotic images swirled around him. He sliced through them, feeling the Shanthra quiver in pain as he foraged through her defenceless mind. He saw a cave, high in the mountains, past a waterfall and a lake. The entranceway was carved with minute drawings. The moment he saw it, he felt a powerful surge in the Force and withdrew from the Shanthra's mind. That was it. That was where he had to go – the centre of the darkness on this planet.

The moment he had let the Shanthra go, she had tumbled to the ground, limp. He had ripped her mind in two, and it had been too much for her to handle. Krayt crossed the glade, leaned down to inspect the Shanthra's body and jumped backwards when her eyes snapped open.

_I am not so easily defeated._

"Then you shall come with me," Krayt snarled. He dragged her to her feet by the scruff of her neck and began to lead her from the glade.

Something snagged his cloak as they went to enter the forest. Throwing the Shanthra from him, he turned and saw that he was caught on the plant the Shanthra had been tending to when he had arrived. The moon had resurfaced now, casting its silvery light upon the plant. He could see that it was a flower bush. The red blossoms looked almost black in the night, the moon's light leeching their colour. They were wilting. The ground beneath the bush was scattered with petals.

His cloak was caught by several of the thorns. His mouth curling in distaste, Krayt raised his lightsaber and slashed through the plant's vines, releasing his cloak. The plant burst into flames. The vines curled back as they shrivelled and turned to ash. Krayt turned and grabbed the Shanthra, dragging her with him as he swept from the glade, leaving the burning plant behind.

_You did not have to do that,_ she reprimanded him weakly. Some of the fire had gone out of her after his attack on her mind.

Krayt did not respond as he prowled through the forest, returning to the river. Keeping the Shanthra ahead of him, he followed her long the shore, headed towards the waterfall he had seen in her mind. He did not need her as a guide, as now that he knew of the cave's existence he would be able to find it with ease, but she could prove to be useful once more. He did not stop for rest as the night wore on and he drove the Shanthra to the point of exhaustion. He was fuelled by his desire to arrive at the cave and see what he could find. Whether or not Augustine was still there – or if he had even been there at all (perhaps there was truth in the Shanthra's words) – he had left traces. Once Krayt found those traces, he would be able to track them, through time if necessary.

Indeed, he could feel the traces even as he approached the waterfall. The hairs on his arms stood up on end. The energies of time had been stirred here… and still were stirred. A powerful Sith Lord had been here.

Dawn came before Krayt reached the entrance to the cave. When he did, it loomed out of the forest like the mouth of a wild, angry beast. He had never seen anything so terrible before. Darkness seemed to spew from its mouth and the air around it was alive with energy. It was power, beautiful and terrible to behold. Krayt had never seen anything like it within his long years of time travel and study with Sidious.

"Come on," he said gruffly, pushing the exhausted Shanthra ahead of him. Together they entered the darkness of the cave.

The entrance narrowed until it became a tunnel. Krayt held his lightsaber out in front of him; it cast a bloody glow on the smooth, stone walls, providing just enough light for him to see. Ahead, the Shanthra began to tremble from head to toe. Soon, the tunnel opened up into a large cavern. It was blacker than night here, the only light coming from the glowing lightsaber.

The Shanthra collapsed on the floor, unconscious. Krayt growled and passed her, stepping over her prone body. He came to the centre of the chamber and turned around in a circle, holding his lightsaber high so he could see. In the reddish haze, he could make out the great, stone pillars spread evenly around the edges of the cavern, each supporting a stone bowl. There was a sense of grandeur about the place.

Krayt trembled. The energies of the dark side were almost alive here. He could feel them tingling under his skin. He closed his eyes and breathed in. Here was a centre of power. Dormant though it was now, it could easily be awakened… captured… used.

He cracked open and eye and stared across the chamber. For the first time, he noticed a repugnant smell coming from one side of the cavern. He had not noticed it before because he had been so enthralled by the energy in this room. Striding across the room, he held his lightsaber aloft so he could see properly.

He stopped a third of the way over.

Bodies. Rotting, decomposing bodies, thrown aside like the leftovers of a meal. Some of them had decomposed into skeletons. Krayt pressed a hand over his nose and mouth, trying to block out the smell. No wonder the Shanthra had collapsed. She must have sensed the death that lay in this place – all of the bodies were Shanthrai. These were here comrades and her kin. It was too much for her to bear.

_Weakling,_ Krayt thought scathingly.

He passed one of the pillars and straightened so he could see what was held in the stone bowl; however, the pillars were too high. Reaching into the bowl, he felt some crumbling material and withdrew it. It was black powder. Frowning, Krayt put it back in the bowl and gently touched the tip of his lightsaber to it.

The contents of the bowl burst into flames.

Walking briskly around the cavern, Krayt quickly lit all of the pillars. Soon the air was filled with the sound of crackling flames and golden light danced across the smooth, stone walls. Krayt prowled around the cavern, unable to keep still. The powers of the chamber kept him energized, he could barely focus. His mind kept drifting, dreaming of the day he would crush Palpatine… conquer the Jedi…

"FOCUS!"

He shouted it aloud. The sound of his own voice brought him back to the present. A time portal had been opened somewhere in here. If he looked, he should be able to find exactly where it had been.

He glanced across at the Shanthra's prone body. Perhaps, Krayt mused, if he could open the time portal then he would be able to resurface at the place where its previous user had gone. Then he would discover if the Sith Lord living here had been Augustine or not. Until he discovered the true identity, he would not take any chances of assuming otherwise.

A gleam of black caught his eye. Krayt walked across to the nearest pillar and knelt. There was something buried at its base that clearly was not stone. It was a hard, shiny and black rectangular object. Feeling around the edges, he tried to pry it from the pillar's base, but it would not budge. Hissing in frustration, Krayt jammed his palm against it. Immediately, the object lit up. He felt its surface warm and realized that it was scanning his palm. A moment later, it popped out.

Krayt picked it up and stood up. It wasn't very large, nor was it heavy. He stared at the black surface as if willing it to tell him what its purpose was. Almost on cue, a face appeared on the glossy surface of the object.

Krayt gasped in surprise and dropped it. The object clattered to the ground and a moment later, the life-size image of a woman was projected onto the cavern floor.

He recognized her immediately. Tall, cool and composed, Islen looked the same as she had the day he had killed her. There was no mercy in her stern face as she turned towards him. He froze under her icy gaze. She was dressed differently – a white gown, expertly designed to embellish her feminity. It gave the effect that she looked paler than she already was. Her long, blonde hair was left loose. For a brief moment, the idea that she looked beautiful flickered in Krayt's mind and then the memory of what she had put him through came crashing back down and it disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"_Hello, A'Sharad."_ Her voice was like ice. It echoed coolly around the cavern.

Krayt hissed, his fingers clenching into fists.

"_If you are viewing this, then it means you have already slain me. Congratulations. I bear you no ill, for it was in the plan all along – the final lesson I was to give you while I still lived." _

"I know," Krayt growled. "I was playing right into your hands, wasn't I, you filthy—"

"_Knowing you, you are probably attempting to call me a hundred insults right now. I ask you to cease that attitude. I put you through hell, but I am unable to say that I am sorry." _Her mouth seemed to tighten. _"Not only was I following orders, it was for your own benefit. I was to make you stronger – strong enough to survive once Darth Sidious took you for your actual training. Had you not suffered at my hand, you would not have endured._

"_A warning for you: if you destroy this message now, you will surely die within a fortnight."_

Krayt stopped. He had been moments away from stabbing the black holoprojector with his lightsaber. He deactivated the blade and withdrew, staring at the image of the woman who had once made his life hell.

"_Listen to what I have to say. You may assume that it is a trick, but it is not. The words contained within this hologram may be the only words of truth you will ever hear. The Galaxy is a much larger place than you would believe, even for a time traveller. There is a chain of events coming to pass that are part of a centuries-old plan. Already much has happened to propel that plan further into action. You have been trained to take part. You have been trained to aid he who would see to return to power."_

"Return?" Krayt muttered, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"_He is my true master and he wishes that you come to his aid. Already you have betrayed Sidious – or if, by some circumstance, you have not, no doubt you have it in your heart to betray him. You hate him with every fibre of your being. Hate is a powerful ally – the Sith have always known this. You have been taught to hate. You wish to teach Sidious a lesson; serve him the same justice that he served you. You wish to betray him and leave him in the dark, defeated and struggling for life. The greatest betrayal of all – one that would guarantee Sidious' defeat – would be to join my master."_

"But at what cost?" Krayt snarled, even though he knew full-well that he was speaking to a recorded image.

"_You are still my student,"_ Islen continued. There was a grim smile on her face now. _"You already have surpassed anything that I would have expected of you. Well done. There is a price for joining my master—"_

"I knew it," Krayt muttered.

"—_and I am the one who will be governing it. Dead though I may be, you are still my student and I am still your teacher. There is one more lesson yet to come, perhaps the greatest and most important lesson of all."_

Even though Krayt was shaking with anger at her words, he had to admire how coolly Islen took her own words. Here she was, knowing full well that when he finally got around to hearing her message, she would be dead.

"_The following days will be the most important days of your entire life. More important than the decades you spent training under Sidious' watchful eye. Once again, I must test you. Once again, I must see if you are fit. If you past the test – if you complete the quest I am going to assign you – then you will be fit to join my master and aid him in bringing Sidious down. If you manage to achieve this, then you will be rewarded grandly."_

"All right, then!" Krayt shouted. "Get on with it, Islen, before I kill you again!" He reactivated his lightsaber, furious.

Islen had a grim smile on her face. Krayt seethed with anger.

"_There is a battle happening this very moment that is greater than any feud between Sith and Jedi," _Islen said. _"It is a battle hidden from the eyes of all. It rages on in silence. On one side is Sidious. On the other is my master. Decades ago, Sidious was a friend of my master's. They shared an ideal, a similar philosophy. But Sidious was greedy, and he sought to destroy everything they had built together. He shattered my master's hope of restoring the Sith to their greater glory when he turned his back on my master and betrayed him. My master was banished, unable to survive on his own. He has had to work through lies and deceptions, in secret, to achieve vengeance on the man who destroyed him. Thankfully, he is patient. He is cunning. He has a foolproof plan, one that will bring Sidious to his knees. All it needs is time – and aid._

"_I met him long ago. He sought me out, recognizing my powers as some that could be used to his advantage. He sent me here. I infiltrated Sidious' confidences. I became one of his right-hand servants. He had no idea who I truly served. My master is a better man than Sidious. Though he is a creator and a destroyer, he does not want to see this universe torn in two. If Sidious remains in power for much longer, the Galaxy _will _be destroyed. Already the strands of time that hold the Galaxy together are beginning to unravel."_

Krayt stared at her, his fingers flexing. Islen was speaking in riddles again. If the Galaxy was truly in danger, wouldn't it be simpler to tell him what was really going on? Of course, right now even her holo-self did not trust him. He would have to prove himself to her.

How was he going to do that when she was dead?

The urge to destroy the holoprojector returned. His fingers inched towards his lightsaber's activation button.

"_You may be looking for a man called Augustine."_

Krayt's fingers stopped moving. He became icily still.

"_No doubt that is why you are here. Sidious wants Augustine found. He is the only link back to my master. If Sidious suspects that my master is still alive, then he will want proof. That is why he has sent you to search for the professor. I warn you now: he will not be found easily. He is a master of disguise and can hide himself within the Force. He could be in the same room as Sidious and the Sith Lord would never know he was there."_

His throat felt raw. There was an excited feeling beginning in the pit of his stomach. If he found Augustine… more options than he knew would become available to him. Finding the professor would be his priority now, no matter how difficult it was.

"_Once you do find Augustine, he will lead you to my master. To your _real _master. You have been unknowingly serving him for longer than you know. All he wanted you to learn passed on through me. He can help you with what you want if you, in return, help him." _Islen's eyes narrowed dangerously. _"Now listen closely, A'Sharad. I cannot tell you where Augustine is. I can, however, help you. This will be your lesson. There is a series of holoprojectors I have left messages within, scattered around the Galaxy. It is your job to track them down. This is your test. Each contains a clue that will lead you to figuring out Augustine and his powers. Once your knowledge is complete, then you should be able to find him with ease."_

A burning sensation had taken over the previous excitement. The desire to strike Islen down was almost overpowering. Krayt forced himself to stay still and listen to what she had to say. However, a voice in his mind kept belting out how useless it thought Islen had become and how much time she was wasting. A test? Surely he could get things done more efficiently without all this nonsense.

_Damn Islen and her tests,_ he thought angrily.

"_If you cannot solve the clues, it proves that you are not worthy of the great task set before you and you should return to Sidious in defeat," _Islen said coldly. _"If he doesn't kill your for failure, that is."_ Something gleamed in her eye and she laughed heartlessly.

Krayt clenched his teeth. _Is that all?_

"_If you wish to find the next message, then follow the path left for you here. Seek out the place of no purpose. I tell you now—" _she smiled grimly – _"this is the easiest clue."_

Krayt snorted. _She would say that._

"_One final warning. Do not become distracted by the family called Skywalker and their friends. They will hold you back in your quest, despite the girl and the man from the future knowing Augustine, for they have met him in the future."_

Something clicked in Krayt's mind. The girl and the man from the future – no doubt Islen was referring to Jaina Solo and Kyp Durron. They had met Augustine? If they had, by all rights he _should_ seek them out, immediately.

But Jaina Solo was in Kuduran. It was possible Sidious had killed her during torture. Even if that had not occurred, even if Skywalker had managed to free her, she would die soon from Delik-66. Jaina Solo's knowledge of Augustine was a dead end; there would be no way for him to access it.

Unless…

Could he time travel back in time? To a moment when Solo was still free? Could he apprehend her and wrest her knowledge of Augustine from her?

_No,_ said a voice in his mind. _If you do that, you will tear this Galaxy apart. You've had some version of yourself present ever since Solo's arrival. You'd create a paradox. _

The paradox – having two versions of one person in the same era. It was the event that brought the universe dangerously close to extinction. If the threads of time were truly unravelling, like Islen said, then paradoxes were even more dangerous than before.

Krayt swore. Somehow Sidious had managed to travel back and forth between the eras and he had never created a paradox. Somehow, he managed to slip by the rules – or he had a very good memory as to when he had already been to a time and place.

So, Jaina Solo was unreachable. But Kyp Durron was not. Krayt grinned. If he tracked Durron down, then he would be able to sieve off the same information. Damn Solo! She was always the one everyone thought of first. Sidious had let Durron go unnoticed, as he was always concentrating on Solo. Krayt was not going to make the same mistakes. Solo's partner was just as valuable.

_Islen gave you a warning,_ a small voice reminded him.

_Since when do I listen to the ghosts of my tormentors?_ Krayt snapped. He was not going to listen to her warning. He _would_ track Durron down and get all he needed to know from the Jedi. It was the easiest, simplest plan.

_The simplest plans are not always the best,_ the voice warned him.

Krayt spat on the ground. It was true. He should know better than that. Perhaps he should follow Islen's advice. He turned back to the holoprojector and saw that her image had vanished. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed.

"I'll do it, Islen," he finally said, his voice irate. "I'll follow your stupid messages. But if it does not work, then I'll hunt Durron down – and there will be no escaping from me."

He bent and grabbed the holoprojector, stuffing it into a pocket of his robes. Activating his lightsaber, he stalked across the chamber to where the Shanthra lay, slowly stirring from her unconsciousness. He vaguely wondered whether she had heard anything Islen's holo had said.

Krayt knelt beside her. The Shanthra's liquid black eyes appraised him coldly as she struggled to sit up.

"Sweet dreams, Shanthra," he hissed.

The red blade plunged through her chest. She went limp, falling back against the floor. Deactivating his lightsaber, Krayt felt the rush of power surging through him. The hairs on his arms were standing on end. Closing his eyes, he reached into darkness, his mind searching for the invisible barrier so many did not know existed. Using his strengthened power, he wrenched the barrier open and disappeared into time and space.


	59. Singing Mountain

**CHAPTER LIX**

**Singing Mountain**

They left Mon Calamari in the quiet hours of the morning. The medics were not keen on letting Jaina go, but once Anakin had attached her cybernetic arm, she was desperate to leave the medcentre. Padmé and Obi-Wan were both concerned that they had stayed in one spot for too long and that if they extended their stay any longer, they would be putting Ackbar and his people in grave danger. The council that governed Coral City was kind enough to offer them a small ship fresh from the shipyards. Mon Cal ships were well known for their high quality and Anakin was nearly jumping at the chance to pilot one. Jaina, with a slightly reminiscent smile on her face, christened it _Trickster Queen._ After giving a final farewell to their kind hosts, they boarded the ship and left for Dathomir.

Jaina was sad to be leaving Mon Calamari. The soft, tranquil ocean planet had offered her a healing serenity that was more powerful than any medications the medics could administer. She did not know how long she had been imprisoned in Kuduran – perhaps it had been a month or more, given the amount of time that had passed since she had been captured – but the peacefulness she had been surrounded by gave her a sense of liberating freedom that began to heal her. Due to the Delik-66, her condition was unknown and they could only guess which way it would turn. Jaina had quickly grown tired of everyone worrying about her; it became so irritating that whenever someone enquired about how she was feeling, she would snap at them.

In truth, she was feeling stronger. But there was some part of her that felt like it would be forever weak. If she concentrated enough, she could hide the feeling and forget about it, but it was always there whenever she woke up in the morning and went to bed in the evening. She did not dare tell anyone about it in case it caused another spur of worrying. She knew she wouldn't be able to stand it if her comrades began fussing over her like a child again.

The flight to Dathomir was short and quiet. The peace that had been found on Mon Calamari had followed them on to the ship. There wasn't much to do except rest and talk. Jaina had spent some time with the twins – she always felt more at rest whenever they were around. Leia's eyes always widened whenever Jaina entered the room, and she would immediately start cooing and babbling restlessly until Jaina came over and held her.

Jaina was surprised at how much the twins had grown during her absence. The last time she had seen them – which had been on Alderaan – they had been tiny little things. Now they were awake and inquisitive; Leia had a habit of babbling in her baby talk about everything she could set her eyes on. Luke, on the other hand, observed his surroundings peacefully and listened to his sister prattle on.

"You know, that picture gets me _every _time just because I can't help but think about how Leia is your mother," Kyp said from the doorway.

Jaina looked up. She was alone in Anakin and Padmé's cabin, sitting on one of the chairs. Luke was still in his cradle, happily inspecting some sort of Mon Cal toy Padmé had picked up for him, and Leia was in her arms.

"Oh?" she said. "And is it weird in any other way?"

Kyp put on a look of mock puzzlement. "No," he concluded after a moment.

Jaina raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. It's not that difficult to picture you with kids, Jaina."

Jaina stared at him. "Me?" she said, startled. "With kids?" She looked down at Leia, who was carefully inspecting the fingers of Jaina's new prosthetic. "I'm a soldier, Kyp. I'm not exactly the mothering type."

He spread his hands. "Just an honest observation."

Jaina felt her face redden. She was speechless for a moment, completely uncertain of what to say. She wasn't sure why Kyp's remark was bothering her so much, either. Maybe it was because she had never thought about future families. So much of her life was now wrapped up in saving her past family – her grandfather, her mother, her uncle. She hadn't thought about what her future would be like – if she survived. Forever practical, Jaina found it difficult to look to the future when the entire immediate future was taken up by a Sith Lord who seemed unbeatable. Considering how many Jedi had already lost their lives to him, the survival rate was not looking very good.

"Jay-a!" Leia said happily. "Jay-a!"

Jaina looked down in surprise. "What?" she said, almost not believing what she was hearing.

"Jay-a!" Leia repeated.

Kyp chuckled. "That's not baby talk, Goddess," he said, smirking. "Little Leia seems to have learned your name before she learned anything else."

"Oh, shut it," Jaina said irritably. But she couldn't help a smile. "Yes, Leia," she said, tickling the baby gently. "I'm Jaina."

Leia giggled. "Jay-a!"

Kyp was grinning.

"What?" Jaina said insistently. "Please stop laughing, it's not that funny."

He was shaking his head now.

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Oh, go away, Durron."

He gave a curt little bow. "Whatever you say, Jaina."

Contrary to Jaina's request, he didn't leave. Instead, he sauntered over and took a seat next to Jaina on the second chair.

"If you're going to ask me how I'm feeling, drop it," Jaina said shortly. "I'm fine."

"I wasn't going to breach the subject, Jaina," Kyp retorted.

"Oh, really?" She looked at him, eyes narrowed. "You have that concerned look that you get whenever you think I'm not feeling well."

Kyp frowned at her. It was a moment before he answered; they were glaring at each other. "Jaina, would you give us a bit of a break?" he said finally. "We _are_ concerned. You've just spent a month imprisoned by the enemy – an enemy who tortured you to the point where you could barely speak, could barely come back to yourself. It can take a while to recover from something like that."

"I'm all right."

"You can keep saying that," Kyp said sternly, "but we're not always going to be prone to believing you."

Jaina shot him a dark look. "Drop it, okay?" she said. "I'm feeling fine. I know what you all are worried about, but there's nothing you can do, so why worry? I feel fine. I'm feeling better. Who knows, maybe the Delik-66 isn't having an effect after all."

She bit her tongue as soon as the words had left her mouth. Kyp didn't look impressed. She knew that he knew that she was lying. They could both feel the changes the Delik-66 had made; Jaina was slowly losing control of what she felt through the Force. Her Force-sensitivity was growing day by day and she was turning into some bizarre radar. She could sense someone dropping a datapad in a room several corridors down and a locked door away. She could make out the heartbeats of every living person on this ship. She could feel the minds of the other Jedi – from the younglings to Master Yoda – bearing down on her, though she knew perfectly well that it was the opposite and she was the one bearing down on _them._ Jaina tried to pull it away, as she knew her overbearing presence was difficult for them to deal with, but there was nothing that could helped.

She was growing more powerful in the Force, and though she would not admit it, it was scaring her. How long would this go on for? If it continued on for much longer, how long would she last before she accidentally damaged something – or worse, someone?

"Right, Jaina." His tone told her that he didn't believe her. He eyed her for a moment. "Please don't get all sour on me, you're the one who brought the topic up."

"Only because you—" Jaina stopped herself. She was fuming again. It was silly. She had been the one to bring her least favourite topic up.

"Jay-a?"

Jaina looked down at Leia. Her bright brown eyes gazed quizzically into hers. Jaina smiled slightly. "Nothing to worry about, Leia," she said. "Everything will be all right."

Leia blinked. She gave Jaina a small, soft smile very reminiscent of Padmé and then closed her eyes. Moments later, she was asleep. Jaina stood up and carried her over to the crib, where she lay Leia down next to Luke.

"Okay, you two," she said. "Have a good sleep."

Jaina returned to her chair. "Would you mind going to get Padmé?" she asked Kyp. "I think she was planning on taking care of the twins now."

Kyp gave her an odd look, but he nodded and quickly left the cabin.

Jaina sank back into her chair and shivered. How many more days would it be until she could no longer control the power burning within her? If she wasn't able to, would it kill her?

Those were questions she did not want answers to. Resting her forehead upon her hand, she stared across the room at the crib. A slight smile touched her lips as she watched the twins. If anything, she had today. Hopefully, she would have tomorrow, too. Perhaps she should just enjoy the tranquility – while it lasted.

* * *

The _Trickster Queen_ landed on Dathomir quietly without incident. Uncertain of whom they would encounter, exactly, they made the quick decision that only a few of them would venture out at first. Anakin, Obi-Wan and Kyp all volunteered at once. Jaina was determined to go as well. No one would dare say anything about concern for her health once she had voiced her desire. As Sheltay was no longer around to look after the children, Padmé and Yoda decided on staying behind to help Scout, Whie and the droids look after the younglings and the twins.

Jaina was familiar with the witches of Dathomir. She was hoping that they would not prove to be too formidable or too distrusting of them. Their prospects in defeating Palpatine would be greatly raised if they could get at least a few of the clans on their side.

Jaina was the last to disembark. Anakin had hurriedly run ahead of the rest, punching the button that released the ramp and running down it before it had barely touched the ground. Obi-Wan and Kyp had followed him; Jaina lagged behind. She did not mention it, but the weakness she felt each morning was growing. It was a strange effect – she could feel the immense power of the Force building within her, but it failed to sustain her. She closed her eyes, leaning against the wall of the corridor.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp, stabbing pain both kneecaps. Jaina opened her eyes and found herself on her knees, having fallen over. Bewildered, she rose to her feet.

_It's nothing,_ she told herself as she quickly hurried along the corridor. _You're just tired. _

But she wasn't tired. She had been sleeping more than usual – it was impossible for her to be tired.

From somewhere outside, there was a wild shriek, followed by a shout that was unmistakably Anakin's. Jaina, all thoughts of her sudden weakness wiped from her mind, wrenched her lightsaber off of her belt and cantered down the ramp and out into the forest glade.

Anakin, Obi-Wan and Kyp all had their lightsabers activated. They were standing back-to-back, surrounded by a dozen armed women. They were dressed in strange clothing of greens and reds, their attire accessorized with tribal jewellery. One was wearing a helmet. Jaina was relieved to see that the Witches of Dathomir were not, currently, riding rancor mounts, but she knew things would dissolve rapidly if nothing was done soon.

"Stop!" she called, running forwards. "We don't mean you any harm, we come in peace!"

The women turned. The tallest witch – the one wearing the helmet – strode out of the circle to meet her. "Do you speak for this clan?" she demanded imperiously. Her grey eyes appraised Jaina, gleaming dangerously.

Jaina stared up at her. There was something vaguely familiar about the woman's face. She frowned, trying to place it, but then shook the thought from her mind.

"Yes, I do," she said.

"Then tell me, girl, what do you mean by coming here?" The woman shook her staff angrily. "Speak!"

"We're refugees," Jaina said quickly. "Jedi, escaping from the Empire."

The woman scoffed. "A likely story! How do I know that you are not lying? The Empire has ever attempted to gain a foothold here. We will not let its spies into our homeland so easily."

"You have my word that I am not lying," Jaina said briskly. "My name is Jaina Solo. The men are Kyp Durron, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Perhaps you have heard of them."

The witch's eyes flashed. "Anakin Skywalker." She turned and gazed at Anakin, who lowered his lightsaber. "Yes," she said. "You, I have heard of. Your deeds precede you, Jedi."

"We have younglings on board," Jaina continued. "Please. All we need is shelter – and a chance to talk to you and your sisters. If you choose to send us away, I understand. It is entirely possible that the Empire could trace us here. I will not hide that fact. But I do ask that you listen to what we have to say. We are not your enemy."

The leader's expression softened slightly. "Let them go," she said.

The witches did not move; they kept their weapons pointed at the Jedi caught in the middle of the circle.

"Let them go, I say!" the leader said forcefully, turning to her warriors.

Almost reluctantly, the witches withdrew. Anakin looked relieved. He glanced over at Jaina and mouthed a "thank you."

"I am Augwynne Djo," the tall witch announced to Jaina, "leader of the Singing Mountain clan." She took off her helmet, revealing long golden-red tresses. An image of Tenel Ka immediately flashed in Jaina's mind and she realized that she must be speaking to her old friend's great-grandmother. "If there are others on your ship, I would like to meet them now."

"Of course."

There was a brief commotion as they tried to usher everyone off the ship. The younglings were excited to find themselves somewhere new, and they were incredible inquisitive about the Dathomiri witches. Several of them had taken to staring blatantly at the female warriors, while others actually dared to venture forwards and inspect their weaponry. The witches smiled slightly at the sight of the young Force sensitives, but they still did not look pleased at all.

The moment Yoda disembarked from the ship, Augwynne caught sight of him and strode over.

"Master Yoda," she said briskly. "I am glad to see that you are still alive."

"Well, I am," Yoda said stiffly.

"Mother Rell still speaks fondly of you," Augwynne added. "From her stories it is impossible for me not to recognize you."

To Jaina's surprise, Yoda laughed. It was an odd sound – she suddenly realized that she had never heard him laugh anything beyond a short chuckle before.

"Still alive, Rell is, eh?" Yoda tapped his gimer stick on the ground.

"She may have the appearance of going a bit daft," Augwynne replied, "but her mind is just as bright as ever. She will be pleased to see you again, no doubt."

"Heh. And I her."

Once all of the passengers had disembarked from the _Trickster Queen_, the witches of Singing Mountain seemed to have warmed up to their presence here. They had lowered their weapons and were observing them with interest, rather than suspicion. A few of the women had even engaged in conversations with the overly curious younglings.

Though Augwynne had seemed initially against the idea, eventually she finally decided on inviting the entire group into the village. They had passed whatever test she seemed to have given them and she deemed them trustworthy. As the witches began to lead the way through the forest, Jaina fell in line with Anakin near the rear of the group. Scout and Padmé were just ahead of them; Luke was in Padmé's arms while Scout carried Leia. The young teenager had become quite fond of the children during Jaina's absence.

Suddenly, Jaina and Anakin were pulled aside. Augwynne looked down at them, her eyes unreadable. Anakin stared at her, his jaw set. Something seemed to pass between the Dathomiri witch and the Jedi. Augwynne took a step back.

"I have my eye on you, Anakin Skywalker," she said. "Though your adventures may be numerous and you may be known for your heroism, there is an unsettled darkness within you that does not go undetected. You could endanger us all by your presence here."

Anakin did not look pleased. "Madam," he said shortly, "every day Imperial troops are searching for me. I have escaped them more times that I would like to count. Every day I am with my comrades, I put them in danger, yet they have always survived. I can't guarantee that the Empire won't find me here, but I swear to you that if they do, I will fight to protect your kind as well as my companions."

The stern expression on Augwynne's face lightened. "I see you are a man of heart, Anakin Skywalker," she said. "I hold you to your word." She glanced at Jaina, a strange look on her face. For a moment, it seemed as though she would speak. Finally, she must have decided against it, for she passed forwards to keep up with her warriors as they trekked through the forest.

"I _hate_ it when people do that," Anakin growled to Jaina. "Prophecies of certain doom and all that… they act like I'm a time bomb slowly ticking down and they're certain I'm going to go off when I'm around them."

Jaina's lips tightened. "Unfortunately, there is a ring of truth to it."

Anakin glared. "See what I mean?"

Jaina gave him a significant look. "Don't act like that," she snapped. "You know perfectly well what I mean. You _are_ the Chosen One after all."

Anakin looked away. A shadow had passed across his face. "Like I need reminding," he said quietly.

"Besides," Jaina continued, "we can't blame them for being cautious. They're pretty secluded – not too many people come to Dathomir. And if they're at all aware of what's going on in the Galaxy… well, it's one big reason for not wanting any visitors. Off-world visitors usually only mean trouble."

Jaina kept talking, going off on a tangent about how visitors could possibly mean unwanted Imperial spies and the like. Anakin was barely listening and grunted in agreement from time to time at appropriate places. But Jaina was barely listening to even herself. As she prattled on, she tried to forget the thought that kept creeping up on her – if Augwynne had sensed danger in Anakin, had she done the same for Jaina? What about this morning – had her fall really been a sign of encroaching weakness? Was the Delik-66 finally getting to her?

_You're paranoid, Jaina,_ she told herself gruffly, stepping down so hard on a dead branch that it cracked. _It's nothing. _She pushed the thoughts aside and continued along the trodden path after the others.

The village that was home to the Singing Mountain clan was not a great distance away from the glade where the _Trickster Queen_ had landed. That was, perhaps, the reason why they had not bothered to mount their rancors to inspect the disturbance when they heard the ship land. It was a busy place – the villagers were going about their regular daily activities. The visitors occasionally caught sight of men at the sides of the houses, but mostly they saw the female witches. However, everyone was giving them strange looks, none of them friendly. Jaina felt slightly unnerved by the bold gazes sent in her direction. She could hear them muttering, no doubt about the Jedi who were now walking through their village. Averting her gaze, Jaina marched through the town after Augwynne, trying to ignore the eyes boring into her back.

"Do you get the feeling everyone's staring at us?" Jaina asked Anakin under her breath.

He gave her an odd look and shrugged. "No more than usual. Why?"

"It's just…" Jaina stopped. She could still hear the villagers muttering. Why couldn't they be quiet? She raised a hand as if to it through her hair, and she nearly jumped when the cold metal of her prosthetic encountered her shaved head. She let her arm drop quickly. She was suddenly aware that she was breathing very hard.

"Jaina?" Anakin asked. He stepped towards her. "Is something wrong?"

"I…" Jaina shook her head. "No, nothing's wrong."

She stood still and pressed the flesh and blood fingers of her left hand to her forehead. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block the growing pressure out. Jaina's ears were ringing; she could hear the pounding of her blood flowing through every inch of her body. Worse than that, she could hear the voices of Singing Mountain clan, all buzzing around her, only just out of ear shot so she couldn't make out the words. The presence of dozens of strong Force-sensitives pushed against her mind. All the hair on the back of her arms was standing up on end.

Jaina opened her eyes.

Anakin was still standing in front of her. The others were a little farther ahead; she could see that some of them had turned around to see what was keeping her and Anakin. Jaina saw Anakin's lips move, but she couldn't hear what he said. She shivered.

"Anakin—"

She fell.

Jaina had no sensation of falling. Instead, it was very much as if she was sinking back on the pillows of a very comfortable bed. Yet, she knew exactly when she hit the ground. Her mind registered what was happening to her, but it was if every sense had been shut off. She couldn't hear except for the ringing in her ears; she couldn't feel the earth beneath her. She was floating – yet not floating – in a world that was consumed by the energies of the Force. The view before her eyes was distorted, becoming an explosion of colour: reds, greens, golds…

There was a bitter taste in her mouth.

The others were gathered around her again. She couldn't see them – they were only a blur of bright colour to her eyes – but she knew they were there. She could feel each other their presences' burning against her mind. Brightest of all was Anakin's.

He was somewhere near her. When she fell, she had seen him run towards her, but he had not caught her. Suddenly, she recognized his hand on her arm as he tried to set her upright. An electric shock ran through her, and for the briefest of moments, Jaina's world returned to her. She heard the shouting, saw the concerned and worried looks on the faces of her companions. She saw Kyp running towards her, his face nearly white—

And then she was drifting. Her body wanted to disappear – float away from this place as millions of particles. A feeling was growing inside her, a desire to cut all physical ties to this world. It would be so easy… she could float for eternity on the energies of the Force, living and breathing the untroubled bliss that was this explosion of colour and light—

_No. _

There was something in her that was stronger than that desire. Something that was keeping her together, something that refused to let her drift apart. She was needed here. She could not float away into endless bliss; that would be the worst thing she could do.

The thought kept Jaina grounded. She fought with it against the overpowering sensations and the strong desire to let go. Slowly, she crawls back to the world of senses, trying to regain control of her own body.

With a rush of sound and a force like the wind, darkness collapsed on her and she drowned in it, losing consciousness entirely.

* * *

Jaina sank beneath the darkness as it swelled over her like a wave. Above her, there was a bright, golden light. Part of her longed to reach for it, but another, stronger part wanted to give up and continue the long descent into nothingness. She raised her heavy head and stared at the golden light.

"_Jaina."_ A familiar voice echoed through the depths, calling for her. _"Jaina."_

Her eyes closed. She was so tired… She longed to sink beneath all this, out of reach, out of knowledge.

Out of time.

"_Jaina!"_ The voice was more urgent now.

Something clicked in her brain. That was her brother's voice. That was Jacen's voice.

Her eyes flew open and she began to struggle through the darkness, swimming towards the bright, golden light. She reached out for it, but it was floating away, higher than she could swim. She was falling backwards now, unable to reach it. Something continued to drive her onwards, a stronger will she did not know she possessed, but try though she might, she could not reach the golden glow.

"_Since when did you ever give up?" _Jacen's voice asked. _"This is not your time. This is not your place. Reach it! Reach the light!"_

She was so tired.

"_You're the one who pushes through everything, remember? Don't stop now, or else everything you've done here will be in vain! Our grandfather needs you!"_

Anakin. Anakin needed her.

She had to go back.

Jaina pushed herself forwards, dragging herself towards the light. It was like a doorway in the blackness – as soon as she reached it, she could walk through the door and back into the world beyond. She moved – slowly and sluggishly – through the dark, Jacen's voice ringing in her ears. It was the only thing that made sense to her now.

With every ounce of strength within her, she dragged herself to the doorway, nearly collapsing in the light. She took a deep breath and stumbled through it.

"_That's my sister."_

* * *

"I thought she was getting better," Obi-Wan said, passing a hand over his ashen face.

"We all did," Padmé murmured quietly.

Kyp did not speak. Instead, he sat still, perched on the edge of a chair by Jaina's bed, his gaze on her face. Her expression flitted silently, the only sign that she was still with them. He had had a feeling that something like this was going to happen; he had only hoped that it wouldn't happen so soon.

They were gathered in what passed as the Singing Mountain clan's medcentre. It was a small room at the back of one of the larger houses in the centre of the village. There were a few other patients occupying the limited number of beds, all located in the same room. All of them were witches who were either ill or had sustained some injury from their war faring lifestyle.

There were a few witches in the clan who were known for their healing abilities. Allaya Djo, the daughter of Augwynne, was one of them. She had been in the medcentre, caring for the ill or injured, when Kyp had entered the place, carrying Jaina and surrounded by the others. Obi-Wan and Padmé had quickly ushered the overly curious younglings outside, giving Scout and Whie the responsibility of looking after them. Luke and Leia were crying loudly, something that had started the moment Jaina had fallen. Once they were in their parents' arms, they calmed down and observed the following scene with cold, sad silence.

Allaya listened carefully as Jaina's situation was explained to her. Pursing her lips, she went in search of several herbs, quickly creating a mixture of the plants which she put in a small bowl and lit. The scent of the burning herbs was supposed to wake Jaina from her deep, troubled sleep, but it did not have the effect Allaya was expecting. As they watched Jaina toss feverishly in her sleep, Allaya did not need them to explain what was occurring. She, like every other Force sensitive in the village, had felt the explosion ripple through the Force and the strength of her presence wash over them when Jaina had collapsed.

Allaya appeared just as confused as the rest of them by this turn of events. Without a Jedi Healer, there was nothing more they could do except to make Jaina as comfortable as possible and hope that she could fight her way back to the world of the living.

"She's stubborn," Kyp said. His voice was monotone, his eyes dead. "She'd never admit she was getting worse."

Jaina frowned and stirred weakly, but she did not wake.

"There is a darkness working in her that I cannot see a way to dispel," Allaya said. She pressed a hand to the side of her face. Her grey eyes were as hard as stone; she was angry that her knowledge was failing her. "Some evil is invading her soul."

"But she's strong," Padmé whispered. On her lap, Leia let out a soft, sad noise. "Perhaps she'll fight through this?"

"We can only hope," Anakin said hoarsely. He looked down at Luke, who he was holding. The boy had not made any noise since Jaina had collapsed.

"For her to decide, it is," Yoda said. He bowed his head in silence.

There was a patter of footsteps from outside the door. The group gathered around Jaina's bed spun and saw Scout burst into the room, her hair a windswept halo around her face.

"Master Yoda!" she gasped, skidding to a halt. "Master Obi-Wan! You better come quick! You have no idea who's here!"

Obi-Wan looked puzzled. "What is it, Scout?"

Scout was grinning. "Oh, just come on!" she exclaimed excitedly. "You won't believe it!" She froze suddenly and pressed a hand to her mouth; her eyes had fallen on Jaina's still form. Scout approached cautiously. "Is… is she all right?" she asked timidly.

"We don't know," Anakin said, his voice hollow.

Scout swallowed. "But she _will_ be all right soon, won't she? I mean—" she glanced at Jaina, uncertain of what to think – "she will get better?"

"We can only hope so, Scout," Obi-Wan said. "Now, what is it that you wanted to show us? Who's here?"

Scout's eyes brightened. "We're not the only Jedi here!" she said. "Bene is here, and Serra Keto and Master Drallig! They escaped from Coruscant!"

"Cin Drallig's here?" Anakin said quickly. "Are you sure, Scout?"

Her eyes flashed with annoyance. "Of course I am."

"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Obi-Wan said, turning to Allaya.

"Because there were more important things I was attending to," she answered coolly. "I am certain my mother would have gotten around to informing you of the other Jedi's presence sooner or later."

"Oh, stop wasting time!" Scout interrupted. "Master Kenobi… Master Yoda, won't you come? Please?"

"We're coming, Scout," Obi-Wan said, getting up from his chair.

"Coming, I am, young one," Yoda said, hopping down. He leaned heavily on his gimer stick as he made his way towards the exit. "Exercise some patience, you should."

Scout rolled her eyes as she followed the two masters out the door. "But this isn't exactly something you can be patient about!" she said loudly. "I mean, there are more Jedi who escaped!"

Her prattling voice faded away along with their footsteps.

"Well, that's good news," Padmé said.

Anakin nodded. "There was always a chance that Master Drallig escaped from Coruscant. We could never be sure, but I am glad that we finally have proof that he did."

Kyp grunted in agreement. He felt some flicker of happiness that there had been other Jedi who had escaped Order Sixty-Six. However, considering the current situation he was having difficulty being overjoyed at the news. Some Jedi he did not know had survived. Good for them. Meanwhile, Jaina was lying here, fighting for her life. Did it make him heartless that he did not care so much about Cin Drallig and the others? He shook the thought from his mind.

"Ow."

He nearly leapt in surprise. Kyp stared at Jaina. He could have sworn she had just said something.

"Jaina?"

A gurgle of incomprehensible sound came from her open mouth. Her eyelids fluttered. Padmé stood up, staring at her in uncertainty. She glanced across the bed at Kyp, and then looked to Anakin. Her unspoken question floated on the air between them: was Jaina waking up?

"Who… marching around?" Jaina said, her voice slurred. Her chest rose slightly as she took a deep, steady breath. "Footsteps give me a headache."

Padmé laughed feebly.

Kyp felt relief wash over him. "Well," he said, "I guess you're getting back to normal if you feel good enough to complain about footsteps."

A faint smile tugged at the corners of Jaina's lips. "Shut… up, Durron." Her eyes opened and she smiled briefly at the three people staring down at her. Anakin passed Luke to Allaya and quickly doubled over to give Jaina a hug. The moment they touched, they both paused as if jarred and then Anakin embraced his granddaughter.

"You gave me a scare there, Jaina," he said, releasing her.

"What happened?" Jaina said, trying to push herself up on her pillows.

"The darkness took you," Allaya said.

Jaina looked up at the Dathomiri witch. A flicker of recognition came into her eyes; she was registering the resemblance between Allaya and her future granddaughter, Tenel Ka. Allaya was attempting to cover her look of slight shock as she held a struggling Luke in her arms. The little boy seemed to want to be returned to his father. Anakin noticed and quickly relieved the witch and she turned to Jaina, looking down at her with pity.

"The evil that flows within your veins finally breeched your defences," she said. "You have regained some strength for now, but unless we dispel it soon, you may very well die. It was a close thing today. I must add that it seems that you did most of the work yourself. You are a survivor, Jaina Solo."

Jaina's lips tightened. "I'm not going to die," she said firmly.

Allaya's eyes were unreadable. "Keep that belief if it helps you," she said. "But even with your powers of fighting against illness, I fear the Sith Lord's poison will run its course sooner than later."


	60. Spectre of the Past

**CHAPTER LX**

**Spectre of the Past**

The witches in charge of her care were insistent that Jaina stay in the medcentre so they could keep an eye on her condition. Jaina was fully annoyed with them; if they thought that she was going to eventually die, why shouldn't she be allowed to do what she wanted to? She never voiced her opinions aloud, knowing that she was going to annoy her caretakers just as much as they were irritating her. Infuriating a Dathomiri witch was probably not the best idea, considering that they had welcomed strangers into their midst. Unfortunately, being confined to one place was making her tetchy.

"I don't see why they can't just let me go," Jaina said to Anakin the morning a couple of days after she had collapsed. "I feel so useless!" Her fist slammed into the centre of the pillow she had been playing with on her lap.

"Punching the life out of the pillow's probably not going to help," Anakin answered, attempting to hide a smile.

Jaina made a face. "Sorry. My genes overdosed on stubbornness."

Anakin laughed. "Thanks," he said. "I realized that." He fell silent, uncertain of what to say next. There was a topic that neither of them had been inclined to breach, but both of them knew that they would never be satisfied until it was.

"It's hard to tell whether the Empire will be able to trace us here," Jaina said finally. "I mean, I'm such a gigantic beacon in the Force right now, I'm probably shouting, 'I'm over here, I'm over here, come and get me!' to everyone who can listen." She shunted the pillow aside and drew her knees up, resting her chin on them. "You're not getting all headache-y like the rest of them, are you?"

Anakin shook his head. "No," he said, "but I will appreciate it when I can finally put some of these barriers down. Keeping them going all the time is probably going to drive me crazy."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

It was no secret that many people were beginning to avoid the room that acted as a medcentre here in the village. Jaina's presence had become so bright and powerful that it was overwhelming to be in the same vicinity as her; those that did not need to be near her stayed away. Even Obi-Wan and Kyp could only visit for a little while before they had to escape. Only Anakin seemed resistant to Jaina's rapidly growing powers; but whether it was because he was the Chosen One, or because he was her grandfather, they couldn't know. What the other patients thought, they couldn't be sure as no one commented on the effect Jaina's condition may or may not have on them.

It was becoming altogether frustrating for Jaina. She felt cut-off from everyone else, separated because they literally could not be near her without suffering. It was a strange phenomenon; her connection to the Force and all the powers it gave her were growing daily, but her body was becoming weaker. Jaina was reminded all too forcefully of a moment during her imprisonment when Palpatine had paralyzed her; yet she had still won the battle due to her mental strength.

It was not a particularly pleasant thing to remember, nor was it a situation she wanted to end up in again. If her physical strength was sapped to the point where she could no longer move or speak, she would go insane.

"Jaina," Anakin said after a while, "there's something I want to try."

"What is it?"

Without answering, he reached out and touched her hand. Immediately, Jaina felt an electric shock run through her. Anakin stepped back several paces and sat down in his chair. He looked puzzled.

"I wonder what's up with that," he said quietly.

"I don't think it's a symptom of the Delik-66," Jaina said. "That's happened before – whenever I come into contact with you or Padmé."

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "That's… weird."

"I know. I thought that maybe it was a sign that I was out of my time – you know, the time traveller coming in contact with their ancestors – but it doesn't happen when I hold the twins."

"Yeah…"

Perhaps it was one mystery that they would never get an answer for.

"How is everyone else doing?" Jaina asked.

"Oh, fine," Anakin said, leaning back in his chair. "I think they're enjoying being able to stay in one spot without the pressure of having to run elsewhere. Mon Calamari was a good place for them, but there was always that chance that the Empire could come raining down on them without warning."

"And you've encountered more Jedi," Jaina said, smiling.

"Yes." Anakin grinned. "It was a surprise, but a good surprise at that. It's comforting to know that there's more Jedi out there than we thought. After the massacre in the Jedi Temple and what Obi-Wan saw at Kuduran, sometimes it's hard to believe that anyone other than us actually survived. You know," he added, "Master Tiin told me that Cin Drallig was attempting to escape with a few Padawans. I'd always hoped that they had made it."

"So, they've been hiding here the entire time?" Jaina asked.

"No," Anakin said. "They barely escaped Coruscant. Bene's the only Padawan who got out, and she and Cin would not have made it if Serra hadn't been there. After they escaped, they were chased from planet to planet. Eventually the Empire gave up sending troops after them, but they had a few bounty hunters to contest with. Apparently Master Drallig has a price on his head almost as big as ours. Any bounty hunter would leap at a chance to bring a Jedi in; the reward alone would provide enough for him to retire."

"We're lucky that we didn't meet any bounty hunters, then," Jaina said.

Anakin snorted. "I'd rather have taken the bounty hunters as to what happened," he said darkly.

Jaina pursed her lips. "Wishing that things had turned out differently isn't going to get us anywhere."

"I know, but wishing is all part of a living being's nature," Anakin answered, "especially when things go wrong. You always end up questioning yourself whether things could have gone differently."

"Perhaps you can do that, Anakin," Jaina said, "and sometimes I do feel that way, too, but I grew up in a world that took a different course from this one and believe me, it is not a desirable outcome at all."

Anakin didn't say anything, but he had visibly paled.

"Be thankful for the good things you have," Jaina continued, "like your children. In the world I come from, your children never accepted you as a father until much later in their lives."

"Jaina," Anakin said quietly, "I really don't want to know."

Jaina fell silent and picked at the edge of her discarded pillow. "So, why did Master Drallig and the others come to Dathomir?"

"It was Bene's idea," Anakin said. "She thought they would be able to hide better if they were in a community of Force-sensitives. Dathomir seemed like a good idea, as it was remote and the witches are powerful allies. They had some trouble convincing Augwynne that they were trustworthy. Though they've been here a while, only Bene and Serra are trusted. Cin is somewhat of an… exile."

"Because he's a man," Jaina said. "Yes. I know the way they work. A powerful Jedi like him showing up without warning would certainly make them suspicious."

"They're getting better, according to Bene at any rate," Anakin said. "He's been helping them patrol their borders. Apparently there's a group of dark witches or something that have taken an interest in—"

"Nightsisters," Jaina interrupted. Her hands clenched into fists. "I'm not surprised."

"Nightsisters?"

"I told you about them before, remember? They're the whole reason we came to Dathomir in the first place! The Nightsisters were in your dreams!"

Anakin was about to respond when there was a sudden commotion outside. Jaina did not need to hear the shouts and yells to understand what was going on; her hypersensitivity to the Force and the life that surrounded her threw her senses into overdrive. A wounded witch of the Singing Mountain clan was approaching the medcentre, supported by her sisters – and the battle had followed them to the village.

"Jaina—"

Heedless to Anakin's voice, Jaina rolled out of her bed and stumbled to the exit, her mind forcing her weakened body to move. Exhausted and panting for breath, she clutched the side of the wall outside her room. Anakin quickly came to her side.

"You shouldn't over-exert yourself," he said. "I can go see what's going on."

"I'm not useless," Jaina said shortly.

"Come on, Jaina," Anakin insisted, offering to help support her weight.

"Anakin, I—"

She stopped talking as three people burst into the medcentre hallway. One was Allaya; she and another were supporting the middle witch, whose face was pale under the freely bleeding cuts and lacerations on her face. A trail of blood followed them. The wounded woman looked half-dead.

"Skywalker!" Allaya snapped as she came down the hall, stumbling under the dead-weight of the witch she was supporting. "Get outside now, this village is under attack!"

Anakin did not need another word. Jaina heard the snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting and then he was gone.

Jaina clutched at the wall, stumbling out of the way as Allaya manoeuvred into the room and placed the injured witch on to one of the beds. She immediately began issuing orders, attempting to staunch the wounds and save the woman's life. Jaina was frozen. Despite her weakening body and her buckling knees, she could not move back to her own bed or even sit down on a chair. She could sense the witch's life draining away into the Force. Soon, she would be dead, despite Allaya's attempts.

Jaina's head was pounding. She sensed that she was moving now, but it was if her body was acting of its own accord. With one hand on the side of the wall, she walked towards the wounded woman's bed. Her vision blurred. Just as she could feel the life-force of everyone in the room, she could also see it: a golden glow, almost like an aura. The injured woman's aura was dim; soon, it would go out.

Allaya looked up momentarily from her work, her expression unreadable. Jaina met her eyes and glanced at her dying patient. Without warning, the woman's life-force went out like a blown-out flame.

The last thing Jaina knew in that moment was that she was somehow inadvertently responsible for the woman's death.

The next moment, the medcentre, the village and Dathomir had vanished.

* * *

Heat.

There was heat beneath the hard, smooth surface of the floor.

Jaina's senses slowly came back to her. She was disoriented; her throat was raw, as if she had not drunk anything in days. Slowly she sat up, rubbing her forehead in an attempt to rid herself of her pounding headache. Despite this, she felt whole. Her body was no longer in a weakened state, her connection to the Force was no longer spastic. She felt normal again.

Jaina's eyes flickered open and she stared in confusion at the room she found herself in.

"What?"

The great, cavern-like chamber was overly familiar. Empty of windows and with a magnificent dais at its heart, there was only one place in the galaxy like this: Professor Augustine's lair on Mustafar.

Jaina slowly stood up. How had she ended up here, of all places? She didn't know how to time travel; that was an art whose secrets were still closed to her. She wasn't like Sidious, who could leave one place and arrive at another on a whim.

She slowly crossed the chamber, stepping up on to the dais. The shining pillar that was the centrepiece on the dais still remained. Last time, it had acted as some kind of conductor for the powers of time that sent her and Kyp spiralling into the past. Perhaps if she touched it this time, it would send her back to where she needed to be: Dathomir.

"Wait a minute…" Jaina frowned. Something was wrong. She walked straight up to the structure, but it wasn't having the effect it had last time. Her eyes scanned the pillar; the engravings that had marked it on her last visit were mostly absent. It was like the pillar was not yet complete.

The sound of a door shutting reverberated behind her. Jaina spun around and saw a tall man, hooded and cloaked, standing at the top of the stairs.

"No one knows of this place but I," he said, slowly walking down the steps. "How is it that you've come to be here, human girl?"

A shiver went down her spine. "I don't know."

"He sent you, didn't he," the cloaked man continued. "Darth Sidious. My enemy."

"No!" Jaina shouted. "No, he didn't! He's my enemy, too, I don't have anything to do with him!"

"Then how is it that you've come to be here?" The man had reached the bottom of the stairs. There was something cold and menacing in his voice that kept Jaina frozen where she was. "Speak now, before I grow tired of your tricks and games."

"Are… are you Professor Augustine?"

The man paused. "How do you know that name?"

"Well, are you?" Jaina insisted. "I know this place. I know this is on Mustafar. I've been here before."

"Is that so?" He exhaled. "Ah. I see now. Time traveller."

"Yes. I am." Jaina paused. "You are Professor Augustine, aren't you? You are familiar to me."

"Indeed?" The man walked forward towards the dais, but did not step up on to it. "Come down, girl," he said, offering her a long, spindly hand. "It appears I have solved our conundrum."

"Really?" Jaina stepped off the dais without his help. "Well, then, what is it? I get the feeling that you really don't know who I am."

"That is because I have not met you yet," the man said.

Jaina stared blankly at him. "Huh?"

"Oh, don't be so thick-skulled, girl," he snapped. "You've met a future version of me."

Jaina clasped her hands together. "So, you are the Professor."

"Yes, I am." He swept around the dais, Jaina following, to the ornately carved black throne that stood to one side of it. He sat down. "Pardon an old man," Augustine said. "I can't remain on my feet all day long."

Jaina crossed her arms and remained standing. "What am I doing here?" she demanded.

"Why should I answer that?"

"Because if anyone knows anything about time travel," Jaina snapped, "it's you!"

"You aren't listening well enough, girl," Augustine answered. "I said 'why.' Yes, I am familiar with the strange powers of time and the ways they twist and flow to shape our universe. I understand how the Force can be used to bend those powers to an individual's will. You evidently already know something of it already, otherwise you wouldn't be here. Therefore, your question is invalid. If you had the ability to come here – this most sacred and forbidden of places – then you know how you will be able to get yourself out. You come here, invading my home, unannounced and unasked. Why should I be obliged to help you out of your predicament?"

"I ended up here by mistake," Jaina said, her voice low. "I don't know how it happened. I've travelled through time once, but it was not on my own. I had help – from you. I don't know anything about time."

"You must learn to help yourself, human child. I cannot do everything for you."

"You're the one who got me into this mess in the first place!" Jaina shouted. "You're the one who sent me back in time to save my grandfather! I had no idea what hell you would be putting me through when I accepted your mission. I did it for my family's sake, but did I know how much of a demon Sidious really is? Did I know about his experiments, his tests, his obsession with toying with lives? I'm supposed to be dying right now because he poisoned me – but would that have happened if I hadn't listened to you in the first place?"

"You have no one to blame but yourself," Augustine said. "Did I force you to take on the mission? No—"

"And how would you know?" Jaina snapped. "It hasn't happened to you yet."

An eerie silence fell across the chamber.

"I know," Augustine said slowly, "because I know myself. I am unchanging. That is both my blessing and my curse. Whatever happens to the outside world during the ever-changing push and pull of time, I remain the same. My timeline never changes. What happens to me now will always happen. What happens to me in the future will always happen, must always happen."

Jaina sat down on the dais. "I don't understand…"

"That is because you are merely a pawn in the movement of greater things."

Jaina glared at him. "Excuse me?"

Augustine chuckled. "That is your hero factor coming in play, I see. How very much like your grandfather you are: stubborn and narcissistic to no ends. Perhaps take satisfaction in this: the movement of one small piece can change the outcome of an entire, complex game of dejarik."

"And who are you, the dejarik Grand Master?" Jaina said coolly.

Augustine paused. Jaina couldn't see his face under the shadow of his hood, but she could have sworn he had smiled.

"Perhaps," he said.

Jaina clenched her fists. "You son of a Hutt—"

Augustine raised a hand to silence her. "Greater events than you could possibly know are now in motion. You must think beyond the individual."

"You have no right to toy with us like that!" Jaina shouted, standing up.

"But, my dear, whatever did you think I was doing when I asked you to go back in time to save your grandfather?"

"You can't know," Jaina growled. "It hasn't happened to you yet."

Augustine sighed. "You clearly cannot comprehend the peculiarity of my life. It does not matter when something happens; I am always the same person. Tell me your version of events from the future and I will explain. Will that bring you some comfort?"

Jaina's fists were clenched so tightly that her fingernails were digging into her skin. She remained standing, glaring at Augustine, uncertain now what to think of him. Was he a friend or an enemy? He seemed too detached from the events that had occurred, a mere bystander pleased to coolly watch things pass. It chilled her to the bone.

"Sit, human child."

She sat on the edge of the dais. Slowly, her fingers released and she rubbed the sore, red spots on the palms of her hands. "We were on a mission to Mustafar," she began. "Several Jedi and I came here. We encountered Darth Sidious, whom all of us thought to be dead. He wasn't. He was a time traveller and had used his powers to escape death many times. He killed my brother, Jacen, and then disappeared. You found us after the battle, led us here and explained that in order to stop Sidious for good, one of us would have to travel back in time to save the only person who could destroy him: Anakin Skywalker. You sent me and a comrade back in time to before the Empire was created."

"I see. Is it in your best interests to defeat Sidious?"

"Yes."

"He killed your brother, did he not? Not only that, he has tormented the galaxy for years as he masqueraded as an Emperor. Are you not benefiting everyone by trying to defeat him?"

"Yes, but—"

"Then we are allies, Jaina Solo. We want the same thing. I gave you a hand, sending you to where you could best put your plans into action."

Jaina swallowed hard. "I haven't told you my name."

"You forget that I am a time traveller," Augustine said. "I knew your name the moment you arrived here. I have seen multiple futures that involve heroic – or not-so-heroic – deeds that are attached to your name. My only question was what you were doing here in a place that is impenetrable."

"I don't know how I got here."

"Where were you before you came here?" Augustine said coldly. "Tell me." His voice was soft, but it sounded like an order.

"A Dathomiri village," Jaina said. Part of her wanted to keep silent, but another part knew that Augustine was the only one who could help her now. If she didn't talk, he wouldn't help her and that would leave her stranded on Mustafar – and she didn't even know if she was in the right year. "The medcentre. I could barely move. Sidious poisoned me with something called Delik-66—"

"What?!" Augustine roared. He was standing now, having moved so rapidly that Jaina hadn't even seen him get out of his chair. For an instant, Jaina thought she saw a glimmer of yellow eyes beneath his hood, and then it was gone.

"Delik-66," she repeated.

"Of course," Augustine said, sitting back down on his chair. "It is very much like Darth Sidious to do that. He clearly had no idea what he was doing."

"No, he didn't," Jaina said. "Usually experiments don't turn out the way you want them to."

"Delik-66 is an imperfect substance," Augustine said. "It was created as an attempt to help save the lives of Force-sensitives during a pandemic some three thousand years in the future. The scientist who was in charge of refining it, Jarvlis Arkheenan, never finished his work. He was killed in an explosion that destroyed the entire building where the research was conducted."

"Sidious," Jaina said. "It was him, then."

"Yes. That I have no doubt."

"The Delik-66 was affecting my midichlorians," Jaina said. "Or something like that. I feel completely normal right now. Why is that?"

"Time," Augustine said, gesturing around the chamber with a long, pale hand. "It is a mysterious and powerful thing. It can heal as much as it can destroy. I assure you, if you were still infected, then I would be able to sense the effects of Delik-66 right now. My best guess is that you, having travelled through time before, subconsciously knew what would be your cure. You opened a time portal on your own, which sent you back here. Your most recent trip has stripped you of the infection."

Jaina sat quietly on the edge of the dais. For so long, she had been living in fear that any day could be her last. She had faced death so many times that it was not the act of dying that had her scared; it was leaving her friends and family behind at a time when they needed her. They needed each other. Now to know that she was free from the effects if Delik-66, she wasn't sure if it was a ploy on the part of Augustine or the truth.

"You seem cautious, Jaina," Augustine said.

"I am," she answered. "I don't know if I can trust you."

"You can't," he said. "I never would advise you to. Trust is for fools. Trust can deceive you, leave your friends free to stab you in the back when you least expect it."

"That's not what I meant," Jaina said.

"No? I know what you meant. You don't know if you can take my word anymore. That is something you will simply have to live with."

Jaina nodded. This entire conversation seemed more like a dream than anything. To have unexpectedly time travelled again, and then even more unexpectedly been cured was almost too strange a series of events. Above that, to see Professor Augustine before he had even met her… the entire situation was absurd.

But, at the same time, it was not.

"How is it that you are not affected by these changes in time?" Jaina said. "How is it that you are above everyone else?"

"I have come farther down a certain path than anyone else has ever dared, Jaina," Augustine answered. "That is all you need to know. This is my burden: to see everything pass by multiple times, with multiple endings. Especially during the life of Anakin Skywalker. The galaxy never knows peace."

"You are just as much to blame for time being constantly in flux as Sidious!" Jaina countered. "You sent us back there to change things, and guess what happens? Sidious tries to change things on _us!_ No wonder the galaxy doesn't know peace. This will never end."

"Shall you stay here, then?" Augustine said coldly, reclining on his black throne. "If you are so appalled by meddling with time?"

Jaina fell silent.

"Let me show you something, Jaina Solo," Augustine added.

He slowly rose to his feet and began crossing the chamber. Jaina stayed where she was, glaring at him.

"Time is passing, human girl," Augustine said, keeping his back to her. His voice echoed through the chamber. "Come!"

Jaina got up and ran towards the Professor. They crossed the chamber, went up the stairs and into the dark, windowless corridor outside. They walked along it in silence, in the dark, until they reached another door. Augustine activated it and it retracted into the ceiling.

The room was filled with bright bursts of colour. It had many levels, spiralling throughout the room, reaching up and out of sight. Each level was connected by black catwalks and stairs. Scattered throughout the many levels were holoprojectors, each programmed with something different. As Augustine led her down the winding stairs and through the room, Jaina saw that each holoprojector was labelled with years, months and days, all following the Great ReSynchronization dating system, along with a small description of what was contained in the holo. However, the holoprojectors began to repeat themselves. Apparently, every one of them fell between _Year 55_ and _Year 59. _

Going up several steps to the next level, they walked by a long, spiralling black structure that was simply labelled _Year 58_. It looked almost like a tree, with each month branching off in a different direction, and each month having several versions of itself. In most of the images flickering in the holos, Jaina recognized herself, Jacen and their childhood friends as teenagers.

"What is this?" Jaina asked. She looked up, but Augustine was no longer there.

"I have been here for four long years, Jaina Solo," Augustine's voice called.

Jaina turned around, craning her neck. She spotted the Professor on the next level, standing on the catwalk connecting two platforms. She glanced around for the nearest set of stairs and quickly ran up them.

"It has been four long, lonely years," Augustine continued, "and many more since I was banished from my rightful place by my enemy. It took me decades to pull myself out of the hellish pit where he sent me and even then, I journeyed, unresting, through time, unable to stop in one place for long, spinning out of control between past, present and future. I finally settled here and was able to begin my plot to take Darth Sidious down. I could no longer travel myself to his time. So, I watched the world go by in silence. These are my documents. You see how many versions of the same tale there are? Everything you see here is shaped by what happens in the days of the Chosen One's youth. Let me show you."

Jaina finally reached him. She panted, out of breath, and looked at the nearest holoprojector. It was labelled _55:5:21: Luke & Leia Skywalker. Records re: Imperial City. Current_.

"What does current mean?" Jaina asked, frowning.

"It means that this is the latest version of their specific timeline," Augustine said. "Meaning, what happens to them if what has happened in the past remains as it is."

Jaina froze. "No, I don't want to s—"

The holo burst into life.

Her mother, scarred, exhausted-looking and armed with a yellow lightsaber, ran down a long corridor. Leia was followed closely by Luke, whose green saber was also activated. They stopped, panting, trying to catch their breath.

"_Are they coming?"_ Leia asked.

Luke nodded.

"_There's nowhere to run,"_ Leia said hollowly. _"This is the end."_

"_I'm sorry, Leia," _Luke said. _"It's my fault. It's all my fault."_

"_No! Don't blame yourself."_

"_If I hadn't run off after imaginary shadows, then Han wouldn't have been captured. He would still be alive."_

Leia took her brother's hand in hers. _"You had nothing to do with his death, Luke. I don't blame you, and I never could. You were tricked by Sidious, as we all were. He's finally got what he wanted: our family handed to him on a silver platter, to do with as he pleases."_

Jaina's stomach churned. She recalled this scene, a familiar vision from a dark night when she visited the cave on Dagobah, right before she was captured. She wanted to tear her eyes away. She knew what was going to happen, but she found that she was glued to the holo nonetheless.

"_We should have been able to stop this,"_ Luke said. Despite his words, there was no hopelessness in his voice.

"_We couldn't," _Leia said softly. _"When father died, everything was lost. We've always known that. He was the Chosen One, but even he wasn't capable of stopping the Sith. Sidious won the moment he killed Father. There's never been any hope, despite our attempts to fight against him."_

"_There's always hope!"_ Luke hissed, his eyes flashing, urging his sister not to give up, even though the situation was dire. _"There always is hope if there is but one fool to fight for it."_

Leia smiled bitterly. _"I don't have your strength, Luke."_

Luke shook his head. _"You're wrong, Leia. You've always been stronger than me, and you always will. The children, too."_

"_Jaina… Jacen. Anakin."_ Leia sighed and looked away. _"I want so much to see them again. They're only eleven years old. Anakin's ten. Who knows what will become of them?"_

"_They'll fight on. After we're gone, they'll still be here to lead the Rebellion our parents started."_

"_Not if Sidious finds them first."_

"_Don't," _Luke said quickly. _"Don't think like that. He won't find them. We've left no traces. The only people who know where they are hidden are standing in this corridor."_

"_Then they're safe."_

"_As long as we don't talk."_

"_I wasn't planning on it." _Leia smiled slightly. _"How long has this war gone on?" _she said. _"It spans three generations, tearing this galaxy apart. Eventually, people will start to wonder why it even began in the first place."_

"_It began because one man was given too much power. It began because one man feared a prophecy. It began because no one stepped up before it was too late. It began because… because who knows what was supposed to happen?"_

"_Do you believe in fate?" _Leia asked quietly.

"_Do you?"_

Before either of them could answer, a bang echoed down the corridor. Leia looked over her shoulder and threw a worried glance at Luke.

"_I'm not going to be captured by Sidious,"_ she said.

"_Neither am I." _Luke paused. _"The children are safe as long as no one knows where they are. That information is ours to bear."_

Leia's eyes narrowed. _"What are you thinking of?"_

Luke glanced at a small control panel on the wall. Leia's eyes followed his gaze.

"_Oh."_

"_I'm ready to go down fighting,"_ Luke told her, _"but I'm not ready to be captured and interrogated the way our friends were. And that's what he'll want. Sidious wants the children. I'm not going to let him get that chance."_

Leia paused. _"We'll take down at least half of them as we go,"_ she reasoned.

"_Yes."_

Her expression hardened with determination. _"Then let's do it."_

She took his hand and they deactivated their lightsabers. Walking over to the control panel, they raised their free hands simultaneously and gave each other one last look before typing in a code and pulling the switch.

Gas began to flood the corridor, obscuring the camera. Confused shouts and coughing threatened to overtake each other. Booted feet thundered down the hall. Blaster bolts ricocheted off of lightsaber blades. Finally, all noise faded.

The holo blurred and faded.

Jaina remained silent for a long time. She could not believe what she had just been shown. Was it real? Had her mother and uncle really died?

"Why did you show me this?" she asked. _"Why?"_

"To show you the reality you live in," Augustine said, crossing to the platform beyond. "You were doubting your return to the past. To Anakin Skywalker's time. With even the tiniest bit of doubt in your heart, travelling back there would have been impossible, with or without my aide. My future self sent you to the past for a reason. You obviously need to be there, otherwise… Skywalker dies, his children die, your father dies, your legacy dies and Sidious reigns triumphant. I have been watching the shifts in time for four years, Jaina Solo. You need to return."

He paused for a moment, his hand lingering on the controls to the holoprojector nearest to him.

"What?" Jaina said.

"I find it bizarre," Augustine said lightly, "yet appropriate that you turned up when you did."

"Why?"

"Four days ago," he answered, a finger resting on the control to activate the holo, "was the day of your death. You see, Darth Sidious and his allies managed to track you and your brothers down after all – because you refused to remain in hiding, as per your mother's dying wish. All that arrogance, all that stubbornness. And now, because of it, nothing remains of the Skywalkers, save your bothers."

Jaina swallowed. "And… are they okay?"

"I suppose one could say that it is your fault that Jacen, your twin, is in prison, pending execution, and Anakin is so severely injured that he will never walk again."

Jaina's hand reached for the nearest rail and grasped it for support. Her legs felt like they were about to give way; she was shaking beyond control. So this was the future. Strangely, the future galaxy was even worse than it had been when she had left.

It took her a while to regain her voice. Everything seemed to be lost to her right now.

"Is there no hope at all?"

"Just a fool's hope." Augustine walked away from the holoprojector and down the nearest set of stairs, reaching the ground level. "Much of the galaxy's future apparently rests on your shoulders, little one."

"Send me back," Jaina pleaded, following him. "Now. Enough games. I know what I need to do. And I'll do it."

"There," Augustine said, turning around. His voice sounded strangely happy. "That was what I needed. Now I know I can trust you. We are partners, Jaina Solo."

Jaina clattered down the rest of the stairs. "All right," she said, hurrying after Augustine towards the exit. "We're partners, or whatever. How did you even get ahold of all these recordings? How can you keep an eye on everything that goes on beyond Mustafar?"

"I have my methods. I have scientific arts from the future that you cannot begin to understand." Augustine activated the door and stepped through to dark corridor outside.

"Just like Sidious." Jaina stopped in the doorway.

Augustine turned to her. "I am _not_ like Darth Sidious," he hissed. "We are opposites. We have different purposes. He sees the galaxy one way, I see it the other. Don't you dare compare him to me, human."

He continued walking briskly down the corridor, heading back to the main chamber of the complex. A deep, unsettling thought had begun to occur to Jaina. Who was Augustine and why did he hate Sidious so much? He kept referring to her as 'human', almost as if he loathed the word and used it in a derogatory sense. Was Augustine not human? She had assumed that he was, as he looked and sounded human. But with his hood up, she could never be certain. If she found out, perhaps it would give her a key to figuring out Augustine's place in this bizarre, twisted series of events.

They entered the main cavernous chamber and descended the stairs. Jaina caught hold of the banister and stayed where she was.

"Professor, one last question," she called.

"Yes, Jaina Solo?" he said, turning around. "Just one. I am preparing to send you back to the past."

Jaina's free hand clenched. If only she could see his face, that would answer at least some of her questions.

"You hold extreme hatred for Darth Sidious, Augustine," she said. "It's an anger that I think runs even deeper than my own family's. What could cause someone to use other people as pawns for in a game like this? You may say that I'm your partner, but you sent me to the past in order to prevent Anakin from joining Sidious. You're a powerful time traveller. Why can't you go yourself? I want to know why. What has Sidious done to you?"

Immediately, Jaina sensed a stirring of the dark side. Augustine turned back towards her.

"_You cannot know, little girl,"_ he snarled.

Jaina raised a hand and reached out with the Force. Augustine's hood fell back; there was a burst of colour and light and a hiss of sound. Jaina felt herself being pulled backwards. She screamed and looked up as the chamber spiralled away from her, consumed by the powers of time. The last thing her eyes registered was the gleam of yellow eyes and a gaunt, pale face before bright, confused colours spun around her and she was travelling back to where she had come in a rush of conflicted sound and light.

Moments later, she slammed down hard against the cold floor of the Dathomiri medcentre, the breath knocked out of her. She heard screams and her name shouted before she passed out cold with one lingering thought on her mind.

_Augustine is not human._


End file.
